5
Arcola Theatre
This is an incredible small theatre in the round in Dalston. The accessibility is all retrofitted, but they’ve done an amazing job. I was able to book a free ticket for a carer/companion, and when I asked about what proof they needed to see, the person over the phone told me that I didn’t need to bring any. As a mobility scooter user, they also asked if I could transfer to my seat (I can), so they asked if I was happy to have a seat slightly in from the aisle so that they could save a space for a wheelchair user who couldn’t transfer. I really appreciated the question and the fact that they recognised that different disabled people have different needs and that two disabled people might attend the same performance. There’s a specific entrance with level access to the theatre itself that they had me use, and the staff took my scooter seat during the show (with my permission) and brought it back at the interval and then at the end.
The theatre is tight, on many levels, and there is a decent-sized, serviceable platform lift to get down to the loo. The disabled loo is fairly spacious but did not have electric assist doors, only manual ones. It is also accessed in the place where people queue for the ladies lol, so you had to work your way around other queuing guests.
All levels can be reached by the lift, although we didn’t go up to the bar. The staff are eager to help and are a bit careful with lift access and instructions; I feel like most mobility scooters and wheelchair users learn their way around platform lifts, to the best of their ability, pretty early on, but the staff seemed eager to explain how to use it, as though this was something unusual.
I also want to give a shoutout to the staff member who chatted with me as we queued for the lift and when she found out I’m a fan of the playwright, told me he was in attendance and had me come into the cafe area after the show to meet him briefly!
In short, I felt much more like a VIP than a burden or an afterthought and we will definitely be back.
This is an incredible small theatre in the round in Dalston. The accessibility is all retrofitted, but they’ve done an amazing job. I was able to book a free ticket for a carer/companion, and when I asked about what proof they needed to see, the person over the phone told me that I didn’t need to bring any. As a mobility scooter user, they also asked if I could transfer to my seat (I can), so they asked if I was happy to have a seat slightly in from the aisle so that they could save a space for a wheelchair user who couldn’t transfer. I really appreciated the question and the fact that they recognised that different disabled people have different needs and that two disabled people might attend the same performance. There’s a specific entrance with level access to the theatre itself that they had me use, and the staff took my scooter seat during the show (with my permission) and brought it back at the interval and then at the end.
The theatre is tight, on many levels, and there is a decent-sized, serviceable platform lift to get down to the loo. The disabled loo is fairly spacious but did not have electric assist doors, only manual ones. It is also accessed in the place where people queue for the ladies lol, so you had to work your way around other queuing guests.
All levels can be reached by the lift, although we didn’t go up to the bar. The staff are eager to help and are a bit careful with lift access and instructions; I feel like most mobility scooters and wheelchair users learn their way around platform lifts, to the best of their ability, pretty early on, but the staff seemed eager to explain how to use it, as though this was something unusual.
I also want to give a shoutout to the staff member who chatted with me as we queued for the lift and when she found out I’m a fan of the playwright, told me he was in attendance and had me come into the cafe area after the show to meet him briefly!
In short, I felt much more like a VIP than a burden or an afterthought and we will definitely be back.
