Sophie Partridge was a creative practitioner, based in London, who trained with Graeae Theatre Co. One of her most notable performances was as Coral in the award winning Graeae play, Peeling. Other stage performance includes work with the David Glass Ensemble, TIE in Nottingham, Theatre Resource in Essex and Theatre Workshop, Edinburgh and performing her own solo piece with puppetry, Song of Semmersuaq. Her media work also included photo modelling, corporate video and radio, as well as a year co-presenting the Download for Disability Now, previously writing a bi-monthly column for Able magazine and regularly contributing to Disability Arts Online. Sophie was also a campaigner for the right of all Disabled People to live truly independently. Sophie sadly passed away on 5 June 2017.
Posts by Sophie Partridge
Richard III at Hull Truck Theatre – a refreshing, contemporary take on Shakespeare’s classic
June 5, 2017As part of Hull’s UK City of Culture celebrations, Northern Broadsides have cast Mat Fraser in the role of Shakespeare’s infamous disabled anti-hero, Richard III. Review by Sophie Partridge Barry Rutter's casting of veteran disabled performer Mat Fraser (even as a Southerner playing a Northerner!) as the ultimate bitter Crip character ...
Refugee Boy at Chickenshed Theatre
April 26, 2017Refugee Boy tells the story of 14-year-old Alem, a refugee forced to flee his family and country for London in the late 1990s, to escape civil war at home in the disputed region between Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is based on a novel by acclaimed poet Benjamin Zephaniah and adapted ...
Ramps on the Moon: The Who’s Tommy – reclaiming the musical for disabled people
April 12, 2017Tommy is the second production as part of the Ramps on the Moon initiative, a collaborative consortium of six regional theatres and Graeae Theatre Company. Each of the six theatres will eventually produce its own show. Tommy is New Wolsey’s offering, though it was directed by Kerry Michael of Theatre ...
Unlimited Festival at Southbank, 2016… a Pixie’s Perspective!
September 9, 2016Ah Unlimited; that biannual time of mixed emotions. I was in `reflective mode' as I arrived Tuesday afternoon, having been at Liberty (Things Ain't What They Used to be) on Saturday and performed pop-up theatre outside the gates of Downing Street on Monday, as part of the week of Action ...
London, my London
April 27, 2016London. It was a fluke, my moving here and nearly 20 years ago now... Oh I had visited - weekend trips and skives off school (I was a boarder down in Hampshire. Lunchtime concerts at the Royal Festival Hall (amazing how appealing classical music becomes when you have Saturday lessons!), then ...
Birds of Paradise Theatre present ‘Purposeless Movements’
March 10, 2016Written and Directed by Robert Softley Gale with performers Laurence Clark, Jim Fish, Pete Edwards and Colin Young and with musicians Scott Twynholm and Kim Moore, this movement-based piece that tells the stories of five guys with cerebral palsy (CP). Sophie Partridge saw the show at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh As ...
Blending the personal and the political / 8 March 2016
March 8, 2016As no doubt many of you will know, it’s hard work being a freelance artist, especially if you’re what I lovingly call a 'Bendy Person' – someone like me with a very obvious physical impairment and what are deemed high access needs – and recently, this has taken a toll ...
Signdance Collective International, ‘Bad Elvis’ with Iris Theatre
October 21, 2015Bad Elvis, written by Katie Hims was originally conceived as a drama for BBC Radio 4. The rambunctious Signdance Collective International have since adapted it for stage with their own unique style. They recently performed it for Iris Theatre in London, Sophie Partridge was in attendance. Signdance International Collective's production of ...
Is the only time Cripplies get a look into `mainstream’ arts when we’re ‘spilling the beans’ about impairment?
October 16, 2015I seem to have seen more shows in recent months than I’ve done in quite a while! The most recent, which I’ve genuinely loved, being Jess Thom’s Backstage in Biscuitland and Caroline Bowditch’s Falling in love with Frida. In both I’ve had moments of being caught up sharp, as if ...
Vital Xposure: ‘The Disappearance of Dorothy Lawrence’
September 27, 2015Vital Xposure sets out to produce cutting edge theatre that celebrates hidden voices with extraordinary stories to tell. In doing so The Disappearance of Dorothy Lawrence follows on from the company's 2011-2013 production The Knitting Circle, which evolved out of research into the testimonies of women locked away in long-stay ...
And after the defeat of the AS Bill… the need to lobby for better palliative care, support packages / 14 September 2015
September 14, 2015What a difference a day makes; a day and 4 months plus if I’m honest. Last time I wrote here, I was so sunk into the gloom post-general election I’d actually turned to poetry! Friday morning, I set off on a train to Manchester, on my way to the AGM ...
Edinburgh Festival: Stopgap Dance Company’s ‘Artificial Things’
September 9, 2015Wild disorder descends into playground politics during Stopgap Dance Company's Artificial Things brought to the Edinburgh Fringe by the iF Platform. Review by Sophie Partridge. I was pleasantly surprised that, on the last day of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Stopgap were still performing their Artificial Things, at Zoo Southside. In ...
Zendeh presents ‘Cinema’
June 3, 2015Produced by Zendeh and written by Steven Gaythorpe, Cinema recalls the story of an act of terror that sparked a revolution in Iran on 19th August 1978 from the point of view of Shahrzad, feral cat and teller of tales. Sophie Partridge reviews a performance at the Arcola, London on ...
Battle is not yet over. This tide must be turned… / 2 June 2015
June 2, 2015Plunder It was there in the skies. The storm was upon us. Grey, howling winds - doom. so broke the storm but no land was Ahoy. Not for us. The vote was cast and once again, We are set adrift; their admissions of plunder whistle in the wind, Hushed confessions of Others votes. Notes of discordant guilt ...
Nabil Shaban on Brecht, acting and cripping-up…
March 17, 2015Sophie Partridge caught up with Nabil Shaban to pose a few questions to the legendary actor currently playing Judge Azdak in a production of Brecht's 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' playing at the Unicorn Theatre, Southwark. When I phoned Unicorn Theatre to book tickets for Caucasian Chalk Circle with Nabil Shaban playing Judge ...
Bush Theatre: ‘Islands’ by Caroline Horton
March 9, 2015Islands by Caroline Horton showed at the Bush Theatre until 21 February. Described as an ink black comedy about tax havens, enormous greed, and the few who have it all, Sophie Partridge reflects on the play from a disability perspective. When I saw Islands a few weeks back, I wasn't at ...
Unlimited 2014: Stopgap Dance Company: The Awakening
September 7, 2014Sophie Partridge gives an account of inclusive dance company, Stopgap’s performance on the terrace of the Royal Festival Hall on the penultimate day of Unlimited. Choreographed by main company member and learning-disabled artist, Chris Pavia with a riveting, rhythmic sound track by Andy Higgs, this was my second viewing of the ...
Unlimited 2014: Katherine Araniello talks about The Dinner Party Revisited
July 21, 2014Sophie Partridge interviews Katherine Araniello about her Unlimited 2014 commission: The Dinner Party. It was just another Wednesday in the life of a Crip Arts Activist; chatty Chihuahuas, parents expected later... they got down to business! I've known of Katherine for a long time, but only recently got to know the ...
