Belfast Theatre Company invites audiences on an interdimensional sci-fi adventure

An accessible show for family audiences (age 7+) P.R.I.S.M. will have its world premiere at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast on Friday March 3, running for a week and immediately embarking on a tour which sees it travel across the country.

P.R.I.S.M. is inclusive theatre for younger audiences, designed with accessibility at its core.

In each performance, audience members who have a physical disability or other accessibility needs are given a full theatre experience, with captioning at every performance, pre-recorded audio description of key visual moments delivered as part of the sound design, and a wide provision of BSL interpreted performances.

Belfast-based Replay Theatre Company is a world leader in inclusive children’s theatre, with over 30 years of experience in providing high quality arts adventures for younger audiences.

Inter-dimensional travellers dawn and dusk have been stuck in an empty void dimension for far too long. When dusk devises a radical solution to their problem it hurls them into our dimension and has catastrophic consequences for their onboard guide and best friend, P.R.I.S.M.

P.R.I.S.M., written by Gary Crossan and directed by Andrew Stanford, sees Replay take its inclusive theatre practice to new levels, providing an accessible theatre for all young audiences and their families.

Replay Theatre Company chief executive Brian Mullan said: “P.R.I.S.M. is an exciting sci-fi adventure for all young audiences and their families to enjoy, but it’s more than that.

"It is the culmination of years of work to bring about as inclusive a show as possible, breaking down many of the barriers that stand in the way of young, physically disabled audiences from enjoying theatre experiences with their families and friends.

“We offer the opportunity for anyone with a physical disability to avail of the best seats in the house, while inviting all young audiences to enjoy the show together.

"Replay is breaking new ground with all shows providing captioning for those with hearing impairments (and half of the touring shows also providing British Sign Language interpretation) and audio description for the visually impaired is baked into the show for all to experience.

“Replay Theatre Company believes that high-quality arts experiences can, and should, be accessible to everyone in our community and P.R.I.S.M. is further proof of Northern Ireland’s position among the global leaders in inclusive arts practice.”

This tour is funded through support from the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, BBC Children in Need and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Ulster Garden Villages.

Prime your portal dishes and set your lasers to fun as P.R.I.S.M. takes family audiences on a synth-bursting, dimension-hopping adventure where you are the key to unlocking the mystery.

In this retro sci-fi multiverse, packed full of vibrant music and effects, absolutely everyone can experience the chronometric reverberations of Dimension 1-X, while calculating the quantum stabilisation patterns of Dimension 23-B.

P.R.I.S.M. will travel to the following venues: Lyric Theatre (Public performances) 3rd March – 5th March; Lyric Theatre (Schools Performances), 6th March – 9th March; The Alley Arts Centre (Strabane) 13th & 14th March; Hawk’s Well Theatre (Sligo), 15th & 16th March; Strule Arts Centre (Omagh), 20th & 21st March; and Flowerfield Arts Centre (Portstewart), 22nd & 23rd March 2023.