Meet the 2023 CRIPtic Artists

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Following an open call out earlier this year, CRIPtic Arts is thrilled to announce 16 incredible disabled artists and disabled-led companies who’ll be joining Artist Development programmes across four strands in 2023: Breakthrough, Incubate, Launchpad and Reach, funded by Arts Council England.

Reach

Marcy, a white nonbinary person with a ginger fringe and curly hair, smiling. They're wearing a white shirt with a red Keith Haring heart, stood against a graffiti wall background

Marcella Rick

Marcella is a theater maker, poet and storyteller. Their work is unapologetically Scouse and queer, with accessibility at it’s heart. As a neurodivergent creative, Marcella works to find exciting ways of integrating inclusion into their work, whether this is through creative captioning methods, or audio-descriptive dildos, they are inspired by the creative avenues that accessible theatre can open up.

Marcella can be found on Instagram as @marcy_rick and X/Twitter as @marcellarick

Britny, who is a black female with brown skin wearing a green and blue headwrap and a yellow cardigan.

Britny Virginia

I am a writer, poet, director, producer and workshop facilitator. Hoping to change the world one story at a time.

Britny’s website is www.britnyvirginiaa.com and they are britnyvirginiaa on Instagram

Terri Donovan. Headshot of a young white person with shoulder length brown hair and grey eyes. They are wearing a white button down shirt and blue dungarees. They are looking away from the camera.

Terri Jade Donovan

Terri is a disabled, hard of hearing and neurodivergent actor and writer from Stockport. A graduate of the BA Acting programme at the Lir Academy in 2021. Recent Acting credits include working with Northern Broadsides, Theatre By the Lake and Graeae Theatre Company. As a writer they are currently part of Pentabus’ 2023 National Young Writers Cohort. They are a member of the West End’s Jermyn Street Theatre’s Advisory Board.

Terri is on Instagram as @terri_donovan5, X/Twitter as @T_J_Donovan and Tiktok @terri_queenofconfusion

Gemma Lees. A white woman with short, blue hair, black plastic-rimmed glasses and pink lipstick, wearing a black and white stripy top.

Gemma Lees

Gemma Lees is a Romany Gypsy, disabled and neurodiverse artist, poet, actor, facilitator and theatre-maker from Bury. In her work, she seeks to create experiences for her audiences that will make them laugh until they cry or cry until they act.

Gemma can be found on Instagram and X/Twitter as @gemisace, on Facebook as gemmathepoet, and TikTok as @gemmalees83

Elspeth Wilson. A white person with long dark blonde hair smiles at the camera. They are facing side on and wearing a black jumper and yellow earrings and are against a dark grey wall.

Elspeth Wilson

Elspeth Wilson is a writer and poet who is interested in exploring the limitations and possibilities of the body through writing, as well as writing about joy and happiness from a marginalised perspective. Her nature has been shortlisted for Canongate’s Nan Shepherd Prize and Penguin’s Write Now scheme. She can usually be found in or near the sea.

Elspeth’s website is www.elspethwilson.co.uk. She is @elspethwriter on X/Twitter and @elspethwrites on Instagram and TikTok

Read more about our 2023 Reach Artists

Launchpad

Headshot description: Jasmin, a young Chinese woman, in a collared, dark blue dress. She is smiling widely.

Jasmin Thien

Jasmin Thien is a fully blind, Bruneian born Chinese actor, writer, spoken word poet and stand-up comedian. She earned a degree in Education, English, Drama and the Arts from Cambridge University. Her work often explores narratives of intersectionality. She is especially keen on approaching difficult subjects in ways that are truthful and nuanced while staying accessible to all.

Jasmin is on Instagram as @jasmin.thien and X/twitter as @jasmin_thien

Headshot of Ada Eravama - a Nigerian woman who is visually impaired. Ada smiles directly into the camera and is wearing a black top. Behind her are gold sparkles against a blue background.

Ada Eravama

I’m a Nigerian woman who is visually impaired, based in Manchester. I studied Performing Arts at Hope University, Liverpool. I’m inspired by the creative potential of audio description and believe access tools such as AD and BSL should continually be experimented with to insure they complement their visual counterparts. I’ve worked with companies such as Leeds Playhouse, Mind the Gap, Extant, DaDaFest, and The National Youth Theatre – as a trainee, performer, assistant director, and Inclusion facilitator. These years of experience have inspired a career in directing and the playful exploration of multi-sensory, access-integrated work.

Ada is on Instagram as @adaeravama and X/Twitter as @aeravama

A headshot of Jessi, a white non-binary person with short brown hair and brown eyes, sitting in their powered wheelchair (out of shot) in front of a blurred brick wall. Jessi is wearing a light blue shirt over a white t-shirt, and gazing gently at the camera.

Jessi Parrott

Jessi Parrott is a non-binary, disabled and neurodivergent performer, playwright and poet based in London. When making their own creative work, they are particularly interested in exploring the intersections of their identity, and understanding what it means to navigate the world as a wheelchair user with Cerebral Palsy who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Jessi is on Instagram and X/Twitter as @messijessijumps

Alli Smith Headshot. A white woman with brown hair and white glasses is smiles in front of a background of leaves.

Alli Smith

A.C. Smith is a playwright and songwriter who has won awards from the RSC and Soho Theatre. She has previously developed work with the Bush Theatre, HighTide, the Old Vic, and RADA. She loves exploring the boundary between real life and art, and has a specialism in cross-medium experimentation, collaborating regularly with artists from the worlds of dance, photography, mime, and film.

Alli’s website is www.ac-smith.com and substack is acsmith.substack.com. Her Instagram is @Alligatrrr and X/Twitter is @SaysAlli

A lighter skinned Black non-binary person in pink dunagrees and a dark green floral shirt leans towards the camera. They are smiling and have ringlets covering their forehead.

Ashleigh Wilder

Ashleigh Wilder (they/he) is a Black trans masculine actor-poet-thinker from Yorkshire. They delight in speaking about the unspoken, and as a disabled activist channel multiple disciplines into creating art, facilitating workshops, and educating. Acting credits include: Macbeth (Leeds Playhouse), Brassic (Sky Max), The hatterleys (BBC R4), The Film We Can’t See (BBC Sounds) and Left Behind (Sky Arts).

Ashleigh is on Instagram and X/Twitter as @AshleighWildest

Read more about our 2023 Launchpad artists

Breakthrough

Adrian Lee Headshot. The image shows a white man holding a guitar. He is wearing a black beanie hat, black shirt and gilet and is smiling. His guitar is a brown natural wood colour with bronze and gold fittings and is slung over his shoulder. His right hand is curled over the strings. Behind him are some small narrow rectangular brightly coloured works of art against a white background.

Adrian Lee

Adrian Lee is a blind composer / performer specialising in music for theatre, TV, and virtual reality including for Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, English Touring Theatre, BBC and Channel 4. In projects with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, RNIB, Paraorchestra and RNS Moves his work has increasingly focused on advancing access for disabled musicians. Hexagram is Adrian’s first solo project!

Jacqui is a black woman with black waist-length twists, She is wearing a green velvet tracksuit. She is sitting in her powered wheelchair and singing into a microphone with her eyes closed.

Miss Jacqui

Jacqui has spent over 15+ years creating, performing, and advocating for change in different industries. Working with Graeae, Oily Cart, Theatre Royal Stratford East, National Youth Theatre, The Poetry Society, Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Battersea Arts Centre, Upswing, and More. A wheelchair user herself, Jacqui wants her work to help others engage the world and society differently and inspire others to feel confident in being themselves. Jacqui believes that creativity can be a universal language, she is devoted to exploring poetry, music, songwriting, and of course performing.

Read more about our breakthrough artists

Incubate

Saskia Horton. A white non-binary person with long hair & freckles stares determinedly straight into the camera in a black and white photograph.

Sensoria

SENSORIA will bring radical accessibility to dance and the disability arts ecosphere via a hip hop framework & state of mind- which already welcomes diverse bodies & ways of thinking within dance.

A headshot of Dave Young, a white man with short brown hair and a brown beard. Dave looks off to the left. He is outside and there are flowers, grass and trees in the background

The Shouting Mute

The shouting mute is an Arts Company that promotes & showcases the talents of different and unheard voices encouraging participation in the arts for AAC users and their community. Championing people that have even more barriers to the arts and culture sector, unleashing creativity to unlock new talented writers and artists.

Ducky Elford Headshot. Ducky is a white non-binary person with bleach blonde hair, big square red acetate glasses. They are wearing a black t-shirt with a red tartan shirt.

Ducky Elford

Ducky is looking to create a social enterprise and video game development studio focused on creating games for disabled gamers by disabled-led teams of developers.

Learn More →
An image of Nell Hardy. A pale white woman in her early thirties with long blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles, wearing a pale purple top, smiles slightly in front of a blurred alleyway in the background.

Response Ability Theatre

Response Ability Theatre seeks to represent and support people whose lives have been derailed by trauma. Its productions explore contemporary experiences of social injustice with particular focus on their effects on the human psyche, treading a fine line between naturalism and poetry for visceral audience experiences that elicit intimate empathy and inspire everyday activism.

Read more about our incubate members