Accessibility & Inclusion with Vitae Veritas

I was lucky enough to catch up with Nilgün Güven Artistic Director and CEO of Vitae Veritas over Zoom, to discuss the companies partnership with Forest Collective for the 2025 season of Labyrinth, presented by Midsumma Festival. This blog is a transcript of what we discussed, and there’s no one better to explain VV than Nilgün herself, so let’s get into the interview.

G: I’m here with Nilgün from Vitae Veritas, welcome and thanks for chatting with me today. As a start, please tell us about yourself and Vitae Veritas and how it came about.

N: It's quite complex but I'll try to do it in a really succinct way. I am an inclusive arts practitioner and have had a career in disability arts for over 25 years.

Throughout my career, I've been an independent artist, producer, director and have worked for different organisations. Along the way, as most artists do, I’ve worn multiple hats and am multi-skilled and I’ve also always been collaborating with diverse people including people who are blind or have low  vision. I've always had access and inclusion as a passion and interest which led me to training and becoming an audio describer over 12 or 13 years ago, so I eventually formalised my skills in that.

From the beginning as an independent artist, I was very much about advocating for improvements in blind and low vision access in the arts and have done a lot of work in that space. Back when I was starting as an audio describer, there was a small group of newly trained describers, so we created this informal collective. We were really hitting the grassroots and the independent sector of the arts, the small companies. At this time the only other provider was Vision Australia who would do a show or two at the MTC - and we thought, what about all the other art out there? So that's where we really mobilised and did a lot of work.

Then for some ironic reason in 2020, the year of the pandemic, I entertained the idea of bringing all that together under a company and putting Vita Veritas together which is affectionately known as VV for short, because we know that Latin name is quite inaccessible [laughs].

Image by Darren Gill

G: What an amazing back story! Could you tell us a bit more about what VV does?

N: VV does a lot of things - we have the honor of taking on two established theatre companies of performers with disabilities - Fog Theatre and Sparc Theatre.

Under the company I also formalised the collective of audio describers. Half our work is doing blind and low vision access, consultancy, training, education, as well as service provision and training new describers, running master classes and professional development for all sorts of creatives out there.

It's been interesting to see the ability to create change under a company. We were quite effective as independents and individuals but working as a company, we've been able to partner with different organisations, such as Midsumma. We’ve been the access partner of Midsumma since 2022 and under VV we're able to work at a real deep organisational level, as well as across events and we have been able to extend our work to artists that engage with different venues, festivals etc.

G: It's good to see that grassroots groups of people can find each other, and then work together to formalise things into a larger company that can offer more resources to people. I think it’s very inspiring so thank you for the work you do, I know it's super helpful for so many people. Do you feel that this has affected how VV works? Starting off in that grassroots community focused way as opposed to starting as a company from the beginning?

N: Yes I do, one of our values and ingredients in VV is that we're really generous - a lot of our work is also goodwill based, because we don't want to make access prohibitive and we understand that everyone is on a different access journey. I've seen disability arts change over 25 years, so I really understand that journey, and I'm really excited by the last few years especially because there's been a real momentum from so many different creatives, organisations and the wider Arts community realising that The Arts are becoming more accessible and more inclusive… and there is a difference between access and inclusion

G: Yeah definitely - I 100% agree. I find it quite fascinating and I love that Forest Collective is a company that's always stretching to find ways to make things both more accessible and inclusive, so it's really great that they're working with you and that they've been able to work with you through Midsumma. How did the connection between VV and FC come about? Was it something that Midsumma offered people and then FC took it up, or were you approached directly by Forest Collective independent of that?

N: What I believe to understand, is that all artists who are wishing to present under Midsumma as part of their festival registration can consider what kinds of accessibility they would like to provide and perhaps Evan was prompted by that. The staff at Midsumma also have close relationships with key artists and companies so I can also confidently guess that they had a more targeted conversation with Forest Collective, and played a role in supporting the access that artists want to provide. Essentially though, Evan reached out to us and we just went from there.

G: So because this is the second season we've done Labyrinth and had VV involved in helping us present this to the low vision and blind community, are you using what you learned about the story from last time to help you inform this one? There are some new elements to this performance, and it is in a different space from last year - what does your approach to preparing the tactile tour and audio described performance look like? 

N: So the process for planning for access services includes locking in the logistics, the dates, the times etc. and then helping with the language around how FC will promote it and articulate it on social media, the website and in the program, - we’re ensuring that there's best practice around that. We also start to get the word out there to the community through our own channels.

Image by Rachel Edward

The audio description that's being provided for Labyrinth is unique, as in it's not the traditional audio description that is delivered through headsets - that is otherwise expected from the community. The way Labyrinth’s audio description is being provided is through qualified describer guides where they provide tailored one-on-one descriptions and sighted guiding for each of the attending audience because, (and the rationale is also important to communicate for deciding why choose describer guides over the traditionally delivered descriptions), Labyrinth is a work that takes place across multiple sites and rooms. Our services also cover meet and assist for audience members - so from the very first gate at Abbotsford Convent, we assist audience members to get to the performance space. Abbotsford Convent is a very large site with so many buildings and pathways, so we offer door-to-door service. For this, doing a site visit is really important to assess risks and hazards and to figure out what's the ideal pathway for ambulant people or wheelchair users to get to Labyrinth, scoping all that out.

By sitting in on a dress rehearsal, or preview performance with audience members in attendance, we get to really understand the sort of relational, social and physical interactions of the audience and performers, and assess the environmental factors and how they might affect the way we deliver the audio descriptions to our low vision/blind attendees. By doing that at the last season of Labyrinth, it informed us and we were able to coordinate with the production manager and stage manager to identify the best seating locations per room, so we could make sure that the quality of the experience was the best for the attendee as well as occupationally for the describer. 

Our audio description also is informed by the work and its content, where there is opportunity to do so. So when there are  lyrics or dialogue we would never describe over that. We really pay attention to where there are opportunities to describe things to the person, and if there are any spaces we can describe things in, especially in this work being a sort of an opera/theatre piece, the musical composition is very important - so we would fully give space for that and not describe over any form of music for this particular work, so that the attendees can be fully immersed in the pieces. I also know that there are dance elements to Labyrinth, so that's where description really kicks in because dance is a highly visual form, so will need to be described.

Another part of our work, in terms of working with the company, is community awareness on the day. Last year, we had signage to let the general public know that there's different services happening and that access is being provided and integrated into this particular performance, so that they'll have a mindfulness and be aware of when we are traveling with people who may also have assistance animals or guide dogs. It also lets them know that they will need to have mindfulness around respecting that our work includes speaking aloud. I know there are different protocols in other institutions, for instance in ballet where it feels like you’re not even allowed to cough - that sort of thing, so community awareness also goes a really long way. It ends up being like a ripple effect, someone may never have heard about an audio described performance, or know about it, but with the signage up they're aware that yeah, the attendees that VV are assisting are part of the Arts community and that, by us being there, they are (hopefully) accessing the show as equally as a sighted person can.

A big part for VV is also designing the tactile tour, and the tactile tour happens prior to the performance and is a really awesome opportunity for people to have access to the space, costumes, props and meet the performers. In Labyrinth’s case this includes musicians, the singers and the dancers. For physical work, so for dance or anything that includes dance, we may also include kinesthetic experiences where (if there is consent and they comfortable to do so - and consent applies to performers as well as the audience), audience members can be hands-on and touch the dancers, so they can feel their movements to understand the physical repertoire of the performance, and get a sense of the style of movement. This can help attendees with body memory so that when they are listening to their audio describer during the performance their body is also remembering and recalling what they felt in the dancers movements - their physique, their style - so it becomes more enlivening for the attendees.

Image by Shelley Xu

G: I remember the tactile tour from last year, and I'd never seen a tactile done myself previously so it was really fascinating to see that physical connection. It really highlighted how important physical touch can be when accessing different art forms. 

N: Tactile tours are one of my favorite things in terms of access provisions, I really enjoy the highly social aspect of them, and how organic they are. You gotta go with the flow in tactile tours, you can have a plan for them - but you're following the attendees's interests. What was also really great about last year's tour with Forest Collective, is that the artists were so available to give insights into the back stories and inspirations of their characters. So tactile tours are a highlight to the blind and low vision community for their social side as well. They are really fun!

Of course there are challenges with delivering access for this kind of work which is being held across different sites, for instance the number of audience members that a space can hold.  I recall in last year's space, there were quite a lot of people packed into a very small space - which was one of the challenges.

G: Well, this is one of the things that is different in this year's iteration of Labyrinth, we are in  much larger spaces and have more rooms to move through. We will be moving through smaller corridors to get to the larger rooms but then, having audience members be able to spread out will make it into a very different show.

N: I am looking forward to seeing this iteration of Labyrinth, and all the changes - the new space, music and dancing.

Last year's tactile tour and the audio description of Labyrinth really appealed to the audience who attended. The audience who attended didn't come just because it was accessible; they are art goers, and lovers of art. There were also attendees who were dabbling musicians, you know, they knew that Forest Collective was a high quality company who produced really great work so they had that company appreciation.

By experiencing Labyrinth,they appreciated the show and what it gave to them, and they felt comfortable to reflect and critique the work. They also felt really comfortable and welcomed by the team of Forest Collective - because everyone who was involved in the tactile tour, from start to finish -  it felt inclusive, it was inclusive. They felt comfortable to have felt supported to be able to navigate Abbotsford Convent, that they otherwise may not have ever come to and to understand it better because they were able to understand that there's many buildings at Abbotsford Convent, and we're in one part of it for Labyrinth. 

The attendees are also supporters of Midsumma and want it to be successful and I also know that the audience who attended last time were able to curate their day. They know that, because they were at Abbotsford Convent, they could go to see Labyrinth and then also go to see something else that was happening in another building around the corner, so that was really nice. 

G: Is there anything else that you would like to add about the show or VV’s involvement in Labyrinth this year?

N: I would really love to encourage people to come along to see Labyrinth. Attend the tactile tour at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday the 8th of February and the audio description at 4:00 p.m on the same day. 

We are also more than happy to hang around for anyone who wishes to attend the artist Q&A that is at 5.30pm after that performance. Another thing I want to add was that if the cost of ticket prices is prohibitive to anyone, they can reach out to VV as we are able to cover the cost for a limited number of tickets.

Labyrinth is a really evocative, haunting and immersing piece and it's something that I encourage people to experience, and if anyone has any enquiries about the work or the access options that they can contact me, Nilgun, at Vitae Veritas on 0400 901 848 or email nilgun@vitaeveritas.com.au

G: Thank you very much for chatting, it’s been wonderful and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday the 8th of February at 3pm for the tactile tour, 4pm for the audio described tour - and if anyone would like, at 5.30pm on the same day for the artist Q&A.

Accessible performance dates & times:
Saturday 8 February 3pm (tactile tour)
Saturday 8 February 4pm (audio described)
Saturday 8 February 5.30pm artist Q&A (free event, no ticket required)

For more information and to book tickets please click here.