The Ancient Oak of Baldor is a tree that has outlasted generations and forms the backdrop for a new play particularly suitable for people with learning disabilities. It is coming to Reading’s South Street Arts Centre this December.
Created by Frozen Light theatre company, the hour-long show is for people aged 13 and upwards.
Set in a fantasy realm of Earten, it tells the story of the people who live around the oak tree.
The living monument has stood in Baldor for millennia and is rooted to the land and the people of the forest.
On the day the play is set, the people of Baldor stand on the cusp of winter and are celebrating the Great Cracking of the Ancient Oak.
Elspeth hoped this was the day that Lars would return.
But when he doesn’t, she is taken on an unexpected journey – one that she will never forget.
The show is described as a multi-sensory experience for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their companions, offering the chance to gather and experience the collective power of shared stories.
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And with it comes an opportunity to discover what nourishes us through long nights: our capacity for love in all its different forms.
The show stars Ting Ning Wen, a Taiwanese actor, dancer and movement director; Jake Oldershaw, who is making his Frozen Light debut, and Hazel Simmons, an actor and musicians originally from Cornwall who appeared in the Fisherman’s Friends musical when it toured the UK.
Things to know about The Ancient Oak of Baldor at South Street
Frozen Light create plays that are for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) and their carers, friends and families.
As a result, each 60-minute performance is designed to be a multi-sensory, interactive experience. There is no strobe lighting, and the team make other adjustments to ensure it is a safe space: audience members can move around, make noise, and watch from the back of the room if that is where they are comfortable.
Audiences can also come and go from the theatre space or eat and drink if they need to.
However, a friend or carer must stay with any person attending with a learning disability.
Frozen Light limit the audience members to just six individuals with PMLD, plus up to two carers and friends. This needs to be specified when booking to ensure South Street puts out the correct number of chairs.
When is the show, how do I book tickets and how much are they?
The show has two performances – at 11am and 1.30pm – at South Street Arts Centre every day from Monday, December 2, through to Thursday, December 5.
Tickets cost £12. This includes up to two companions.
Some performances have already sold out.
For more details, or to book, call the Reading Arts box office on: 0118 960 6060, or log on to: https://whatsonreading.com/venues/south-street/whats-on/ancient-oak-baldor
More about the Frozen Light theatre company
Frozen Light was founded in 2013 and is based in Norwich.
The team behind it say they have a passion for creating stories and adventures, engaging interactive theatre; devised theatre with original and electrifying soundtracks; theatre that is fun and mischievous; theatre that questions; theatre that is bold; theatre that encompasses all senses.
Part of its mission is to create theatre audiences can touch and smell, and theatre that happens during intimate one-to-one interactions, and theatre that is collective.
It ensures its work is suitable for adults who have profound and multiple learning disabilities and creating safe spaces in which to take risks and transport audiences to sensory worlds filled with awe and wonder.
It produces a podcast giving regular insights into its work.
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