A few weeks ago, past and present artistic directors of Birds Of Paradise Theatre Company met up to take stock. It had been 30 years, after all, since the foundation of what has become Scotland’s premier producer of theatre both created and performed by disabled artists. Current company boss Robert Softley Gale gathered alongside his former co-director Garry Robson plus their predecessors Morven Gregor and founding director Andrew Dawson on the eve of Don’t. Make. Tea., Rob Drummond’s dark comedy about the benefits system.

Among the many things discussed, Dawson reminded Softley Gale how he had visited his school to present a workshop on the-then freshly launched Birds Of Paradise. Keen to get young people involved, Softley Gale was invited to take part, only to tell Dawson he was far too busy. While Softley Gale’s interest in theatre developed while a student at the University Of Glasgow studying Computer Science and Business Management, he never saw himself taking an on-stage role. However, after speaking at an event about his experience of education as a disabled man, he was asked to audition for what would become the first integrated theatre company in Europe, founded at the Theatre Workshop venue in Edinburgh.

Despite having never acted before, Softley Gale spent a year with the company. This led him to Birds Of Paradise, first as an actor in Garry Robson’s play, The Irish Giant (2003). In the two decades since, Softley Gale has seen how the company has developed into a major theatrical force. ‘I think for any company to be going for 30 years is quite remarkable,’ Softley Gale says of the organisation he refers to as BOP. ‘I think that is especially so for a company like BOP, where the external perception is maybe around doing work for disabled people that’s for a good cause. I think because of that, it’s even more of an achievement just to be here after 30 years and to still be making work that’s having a big impact and bringing in big audiences. So, yeah, it feels good.’

Birds Of Paradise was formed out of an arts and disability-based community theatre project initiated by the Fablevision company that gave the new offshoot its name. With collaborations between Fablevision and BOP overseen by directors Michael Duke and Liz Gardiner, BOP went on to become fully independent in its own right. Early works included The Farce Of Circumstance (1994) by disabled playwright Tom Lannon and directed by Dawson. Other key productions included a collaboration with 7:84 Scotland on Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin’s word-based collage Tongues (1997), and a new play by Alasdair Gray, Working Legs (1998).

Under Morven Gregor, BOP produced Ian Stephen’s football-based Brazil 12 Scotland 0 (2005), which also featured Softley Gale in the cast. Other plays presented during Gregor’s tenure included Mouth Of Silence (2006) by Gerry Loose, Kathy McKean’s Beneath You, Spider Girls Are Everywhere (2007), Offshore (2008) by Alan Wilkins, and a production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage And Her Children (2011) featuring Alison Peebles in the title role.

Softley Gale was appointed joint artistic director with Shona Rattray and Garry Robson in 2012. Productions since then have included Wendy Hoose (2014) by Johnny McKnight in co-production with Random Accomplice, and Crazy Jane (2015) by Nicola McCartney. Rattray departed BOP in 2015, with Robson leaving in 2018 after appearing alongside Softley Gale in Blanche & Butch (2017) and directing The Tin Soldier (2017). 

With the company having already brought disabled theatre into the 21st century, Softley Gale’s sole stewardship began with My Left/Right Foot (2018), an irreverent musical which he wrote and directed, and was co-produced by BOP with the National Theatre Of Scotland. Working with composers Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie (aka Noisemaker), and Jerry Springer: The Opera composer Richard Thomas, Softley Gale’s play tackled liberal sensitivities over inclusivity head-on. This scurrilous yarn featured an amateur dramatics group attempting to comply with equality laws by doing a production of Jim Sheridan’s Oscar-winning 1989 film My Left Foot (the movie that saw able-bodied Daniel Day-Lewis ‘crip up’ as disabled artist Christy Brown). Purposeless Movements (2019), another Softley Gale work, was produced as part of Edinburgh International Festival.

Continuing to blaze a trail for disabled theatre with work that can sit alongside any other company on artistic merit alone, Softley Gale sees the future of BOP as global. ‘We already do a lot of work overseas, in Rwanda, Nepal and China,’ he says. ‘We engage with disabled artists all over the world and look at how we can help them to develop what they do. I think that’s really exciting in terms of what that lets us bring back to Scotland. We can all be quite guilty of telling our stories over and over again, and that’s great, but what I’ve been finding fascinating when I meet a disabled person in China is that we see how different their lives are, but also how similar they are to mine. So I think more international collaborations is something we definitely want to explore.’ 

As a demonstration of how far BOP have come over the last 30 years in terms of creative access, Don’t. Make. Tea. includes a description for the visually impaired, a sign-language interpreter, and captions woven into the play’s story. ‘It’s been great the last couple of years,’ Softley Gale reflects. ‘Myself and my colleagues have been at events where people come over and say “oh, Birds Of Paradise, I love their work.” The reputation that we’ve now got around the UK and further afield is very strong, and it’s great to build on that to keep giving people productions they can enjoy, and come back to again and again. As a theatremaker, regardless of disability or any of that, that’s where you want to be.’

Don’t. Make. Tea., Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thursday 21 & Friday 22 March; Gaiety Theatre, Ayr, Tuesday 9 April; Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Thursday 11–Saturday 13 April; Cumbernauld Theatre At Lanternhouse, Tuesday 16 April; main picture: Mihaela Bodlovic.