How does access change the way a production is imagined, designed and made?

In this moderated conversation, Claire Teo and the creative team behind MONSTRESS invite audiences into a part of the process rarely heard in public: the perspectives of the designers. The session looks at how access was placed at the forefront of creative decision-making from the beginning, shaping not only the final production, but the team’s ways of listening, collaborating and problem-solving.

The conversation will explore how access became a creative and guiding principle within MONSTRESS influencing sound, text, space, captioning, movement and design, while also asking what it takes to build a rehearsal room and production process rooted in care. The team will reflect honestly on the discoveries, negotiations and challenges of working this way, and how it shifted their assumptions about artistry, responsibility and what a fuller experience for audiences can be.

This is a companion programme to MONSTRESS (4 – 6 Sep 2026) at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The Studios companion programmes are an invitation to deepen engagement with the artistic works and conversations raised in the season.