Edinburgh Fringe Venue - Pleasance Courtyard 2 - Sirens - Really impressed
5
5
Date of visit: August 2018
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Excellent
Accessible access without stairs available at the bottom of the venue. A lot of the performance was done with BSL and had captioning on the screen. Absolutely amazing show by ZooCo called Sirens which covered a lot of hard hitting societal issues in a fun and thought-provoking manner. Would 100% see again!
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
The access to the courtyard itself is cobbled. As my legs were fine that day, I didn't bring any mobility aids but had I been in a wheelchair, I know my chronic pain would have been worsened by the cobbles but that's part of the charm of Edinburgh. The courtyard area was pretty confusing and not all staff members really knew where we were supposed to go which caused a fair bit of stress. By the time we found Venue 2 within the courtyard we were barely in time and I didn't have time to enquire about disabled access so I just had to manage the 12+ steps up to the venue. Inside the venue itself was grand, cast greeted us and we were able to get seats without going up and down any more stairs. The performance was done with BSL, spoken word and captioning on the screen. The performance also had two hearing impaired characters and it all felt very natural and immersive. At the end of the performance, I spotted the accessible entrance at the bottom near the stage but as this was the same number of steps down as I had already come, I went out the main entrance. As I take a long time coming down stairs, the staff were very kind and patient and let me take my time to safely get down the stairs.
Parking & Transport
Average
We got a taxi straight to the venue which really helped as it's up some really large hills. According to google maps it's a 10 minute walk from the Royal Mile which does look accurate if you don't have mobility impairments.
Accessible Toilets
Excellent
As the toilets were in part of the courtyard and our show only lasted 1 hour, I did not use the facilities and so am unable to comment on them.
Staff
Excellent
Staff at Venue 2 itself were on point, other staff within the courtyard were friendly but not great with directions.
