International Guild of Disabled Artists and Performers

IGODAP UP CLOSE with Julie McNamara

IGODAP UP CLOSE

with Julie McNamara

Julie McNamara is a multi-talented performer, writer, film-maker and activist. She has recently launched a new production company called "Vital Xposure", a disability led project which aims to explore vital social issues, raise awareness and uncover new voices in the arts.

Julie talks to IGODAP HQ about her new venture, her activism and how her disability has impacted on her work.

You launched your new production company "Vital Xposure" in January this year. What motivated you to start a new theatre company and what productions have you been involved in so far?

Vital Xposure was set up as I wanted a new name to pitch the film and theatre work we do under. The company was previously called Julie McNamara because it was smaller, working from project to project recruiting creative artists along the way. I have been operating as a funded individual artist for many years.
The new company was created to promote excluded voices, seeking out extraordinary stories and talented artists from the London communities with particular focus on the talent within Disability Arts and disabled people across society.

Vital Xposure has been able to apply for national portfolio funding through Arts Council England, which commences in 2012. Prior to changes in funding guidelines I was funded as an individual, one of the Arts Council's anomolies. That is no longer possible, so it was essential to formalise the company structure, becoming a company limited by guarantee with articles of association, a constitution and a Board of Trustees.

Julie Mc as Heggarty in 'Crossings'
Directed by
Paulette Randall

You are also a multi-talented artist with performance, writing, production and filmmaking credits to your name. How do society and your personal experience of disability impact on your life/work, and (how) do you express this in your work?

I am first and foremost an artist. But living with brain injury and a psychiatric record attracts considerable stigma. I will always be perceived as disabled by society - just try breaking into the labour market with a psych record and too many gaps on your CV. I am also an outspoken advocate on behalf of mental health system survivors. My experiences inform everything I do and how I experience the world - all of my work is Disability led. Disabled artists take centre stage and the experiences of disabled viewers or visitors to the theatre or film are central to the way the work is produced.

For example, theatre practitioners often place their sign language interpreters stage left, to the side of the viewing area or playing space. In our production of 'Crossings' we created a Narrator's role for the interpreter and had her central to the storyline. She came on at the beginning of each scene, signing the headlines for Deaf viewers ahead of the information provided for the hearing audience. This reduces the amount of ‘table tennis viewing’ a Deaf audience has to engage in, visually flitting from stage left to stage right in order to understand the piece. Hearing viewers could then catch up swiftly with the action or simply enjoy watching the interpreter at work if they didn't understand sign language.

I work from the darkest landscapes of the mind, telling very human stories and placing them on stage or screen. But light and dark go side by side so my work is driven by a gallows humour, flipping from some very bleak places into absurdity.

Creative Choices UK filmed during a national tour of Pig Tales by Julie McNamara, 2008.

The play was commissioned by Karena Johnson and Pat Place for Xposure Festival of Disability Arts.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

My inspiration comes from life itself. My own experiences make good compost for theatre work. My father was a rich source of material - unreal and stranger than fiction it has to be said. There are extraordinary stories all around us and I am constantly curious (nosey by any other name!)

You have also involved in some activist work. Can you tell us more about this?

I have been an activist all of my life - I was raised in a second generation Irish household - a Catholic / Protestant intermarriage at a dangerous time in the evolution of our politics in the 'United Kingdom'. I became familiar with war and with conflict intervention at the dinner table. I joined the Troops Out Movement and the Irish Women's Abortion Support Group in my early twenties. I was also part of the Campaign against Psychiatric Oppression and Survivors Speak Out for many years before becoming a Disability Activist in the Disabled People's Movement.

In the early years of the movement here, there were profound splits between people with physical and sensory imapairment and people with a psychiatric history like me. I was a member of DAN - Disabled People's Direct Action Network, doing my bit by chaining myself to inaccessible red buses and carrying placards through Downing Street demanding equal access and equal rights for disabled people. My favourite moment was getting arrested whilst wearing a T-shirt proclaiming: Piss on Pity! But then they carted me off to a Psych ward; that's not a particularly favourite moment.

Marching for Disabled People's right to travel on public transport, 1996.

If one thing were to change that would make the work and role of artists who experience disability more significant, what would it be?

If one thing were to change that would raise the profile of disabled artists and completely change how our work and role is currently perceived it would be a strengthening of the powers of the United Nations, with an international declaration of human rights that had a duty to ensure that diversity is integrated at the core of each society's planning and political decision making.

Disabled people are still on the political peripheries, still the afterthought on most agendas and still fighting to be heard. International communities are plowing money into war, creating more and more disabled people. They believe might is right and the weakest amongst us are afforded the least respect. But we can and must change this. Disability arts within the broadest range of international communities would then stand a chance of recognition instead of being hived off into a ghetto with placatory funding.

How could a forum like IGODAP help you to achieve your artistic goals?

IGODAP was set up as an international forum to network disabled artists across the globe. It's an excellent place to cruise when seeking new partners on an international platform. I spend 20% of my working life creating new work with collaborators across the world.

Julie McNamara as Heggarty in Crossings, a work commission by DaDa Festival Liverpool, 2009.

(Also pictured Margo Cargill as Nzingah and Nadine Wild Palmer as Shelley).

What projects are you and Vital Xposure currently involved in?

This summer we will be presenting a documentary: I Dream, I Dare, I Do - presenting the stories of three disabled artists who have extraordinary talents. They are also learning disabled. The only thing standing in the way of them getting on with their lives and careers and making great art is your attitude and mine.

We have just been selected for the Decibel showcase, a national platform promoting the best work in the creative industries across the UK. 'The Knitting Circle' is Vital Xposure's first production, created from the testimonies of people who lived through the bleak years of the Asylums and penal colonies closed in the 80's and 90's and lived to tell the tale. Please check out the site on: www.juliemc.com for further details of this extraordinary piece of work.

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