Tam Gilbert is a writer, Performance Artist and drama facilitator at Bournemouth-based Persuasion Arts, which she established in 2012. She is also Co-Director at Millstream Theatre, a company for learning disabled actors which is based at Priest's House Museum, in Wimborne.
Posts by Tam Gilbert
Sensing Helen: Life was difficult for many women in Victorian times – but how did society view disability?
November 15, 2018Sensing Helen, a documentary by Dorset-based director Tam Gilbert, explores the lives of two women born in Dorset in the mid –1800s and compares them with Tam’s own experiences and those of other visually impaired women today. Elizabeth Groves from Weymouth and Sophia Ridout from Sturminster Newton, both went to the ...
Sensing Helen: Sophia’s Story and Workshops
October 9, 2018Sensing Helen is now complete. We have conducted and delivered our research, compiled an Education Resource Pack for Young People and shared our film at three locations across Dorset. The film was well-received by audiences and I will document its process in my next post when I will also reflect ...
Sensing Helen: seeking stories of blind people in Dorset
April 30, 2018I am aware that it has been a while since my last post. Our film has its first airings this week and I am yet to tell of its journey. We have been busy completing our work with the young people and have started the second phase of the project ...
Sensing Helen: Dorset History Centre: Training and Initial Research…
January 17, 2018My second blog post comes slightly later than I would have liked; so much has happened in the last few months, it has taken a while to process! The Sensing Helen project is now well underway. We’ve finished our Research, which took us out of Dorset and on a road-trip to ...
Sensing Helen: the story so far…
October 18, 2017It began with a playreading two years ago. Friend and fellow Artist Michele O’Brien and I sat down to read William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker. I was instantly struck with Helen Keller’s childhood story – how she developed a communication system with companion Anne Sullivan – enabling her to interact ...
Jamie Beddard: from sociologist to top-class theatre director and disability arts activist – how did he get there?
April 4, 2017Theatre-maker Tam Gilbert looks back on Jamie Beddard’s glittering career so far, from humble beginnings as a youth worker, to playing a starring role in the National Theatre’s production of the Threepenny Opera in 2016. He’ll return to the stage as The Messiah for a special performance of Handel’s classic ...
Myrtle Theatre Company and Salisbury Playhouse ‘Up Down Man’
March 31, 2016Up Down Man was at Salisbury Playhouse 24 February - 12 March 2016. It tells the moving story of a family struggling with bereavement. Centred around 29 year old Matty Butler (Nathan Bessell), who has Down’s Syndrome, Brendan Murray’s stand-alone play follows on from Myrtle Theatre Company’s 2010 production Up Down Boy (by ...
