Interview with Natasha

The Secret Gardens programme spans a full year of activity. As Project Producer, what was the very first question you asked yourself when approaching something of this scale?

What happens after the programme officially comes to an end in September next year? It’s important to me to know why we’re doing what we’re doing, and the longer-term plan, in the context of partnerships, young people’s progression routes and organisational strategy. Now that we’re a few months into the programme, I can already see the impact and legacy that it will have, which is exciting.

How have you designed the programme to ensure that all strands — from disability-led performance to sensory baby pods — share a coherent artistic and ethical backbone?

The ‘artistic backbone’ is undoubtably the story of the The Secret Garden, which offers rich inspiration for storytelling for and by children and young people, through the production and engagement projects we are delivering. In early November, we held an in-person Artists Retreat for all the artists involved in the Secret Gardens – including our three Young Associate Artists, aged between 10 and 12 years old - where we explored our writer Tom Wentworth’s adapted version of the story and its themes, as well as sharing and developing ideas across all five strands of the programme. We also engaged in sessions that helped us to start to embed climate-positive and access-first approaches into the work. Taking part in this two-day event meant that we all now have a deeper, clearer understanding of what we hope to achieve through the Secret Gardens programme, what its underpinning values are, and how we can move forward together and hold each other accountable. And we’ve brought a coherence to the Secret Gardens that we may not have achieved otherwise, and a relevance and importance to every creative element of the programme, through our proposed exploration of access in the creative process and climate narratives.

What specific producing challenges come with a disability-led mainstage production, and how have you ensured the team has what they need to work access-first?

We are working with an Access Consultant, who is working across the programme as it develops, and delivering training, as well as assisting disabled creatives to put together access riders and offering any ad hoc support that is needed across the programme.

As access is a major underpinning theme in this programme, it is not only front of everyone’s minds at an operational level, but is woven into the storytelling, which is really exciting. Having creatives with lived experience working across the programme at all levels means our work is richer and more authentic.

The programme began with an Artists’ Retreat centred on climate dramaturgy and disability awareness. Why was holding this retreat such an important part of launching the project?

It’s not something that usually happens in my experience, but it’s indicative of how ambitious the programme, and The Egg’s Director Kate Cross, is – to insist that bringing the creative team together for two days, in the auditorium at The Egg where we’ll stage the production, was a top priority. The result was that the team has now all got to know each other in person, they’ve actually told the story together, as well as working together to unpick and address some challenging questions they’ve had in their minds for a while about their own projects.

The baby-focused sensory pod is unlike traditional theatre. What did producing look like for such a delicate, non-verbal form of engagement?

The Imagination Garden Experience for Babies is designed to be an experience rather than a performance or a workshop, which makes total sense for such young children. We’ve been inspired by work such as Fields of Tender, where babies and their adults are invited to be involved through an array of multisensory offers, rather than a fixed performance, but where there is a still a narrative and where participants have a lot of agency. For this project, we are working with a composer and visual artist, as well as a creative coder, who will find ways to turn audio into visuals. One of my main tasks as a producer is to ensure the project has a clear narrative, and that it links back, even if this is in an abstract way, with the story of The Secret Garden. This is in addition to logistical considerations, such as how many people can move through the experience at a time, how it will work in four very different locations and how we keep everything clean!

The Feelgood Factor is a brand-new interactive technology tool. How do you approach producing a tech-driven project with the same care as live performance?

This is another exciting element, which could be seen as an extension of the production itself. Like all the projects across the programme, it is driven by the narrative journey – the tech aspect will support this and will simply allow our young audiences to interact with the characters in the story.

What does meaningful access look like to you when producing?

Throughout the programme, we’re attempting to convey the social model of disability and remove barriers to participation. One of the ways we are doing this is by making a filmed version of the production available to participants in our hospital in-patient project, for example, and by designing a project that will be delivered remotely in the form of multi-sensory boxes that they can engage with at their own pace, in their own way.

With the final programme including a filmed version of the production and a youth-led documentary, how do you navigate producing across both live and cinematic forms?

What systems of care have you embedded for your artists, given the emotional and sensory nature of the work?

I think we have a really good system of support and care in place for everyone involved in the programme. This is in the form of targeted support, such as our Access Consultant being on-hand for anyone who needs to engage with them, and in-house support, in the form of our Production Manager and our Head of Engagement. This is in addition to my role, as the main point of contact and person who holds the programme, and holds space for everyone in it.

What has been the most unexpectedly joyful part of producing this programme so far?

Bringing all our artists together at the Artists Retreat and feeling the energy of a huge amount of talent, as well as generosity, all in one room was incredible. Having our three Young Associate Artists in the room with us was extremely joyful, and the way they playfully disrupted the space and provoked us creatively was key to the development work that went on across the two days.

And finally, when you imagine children walking into The Egg during this programme, what is the feeling you most hope they experience?

We’ve talked a lot about the word ‘awe’ when planning the Secret Gardens programme. This may seem like an ambitious word! But I think it’s a great word to describe the feeling in this story that nature is bigger and more powerful than any of us. Our aim is to inspire that feeling in our young audience members and project participants.

To find out more about this project please visit: https://www.theatreroyal.org.uk/the-secret-gardens/