As a mum of a child with complex needs and challenging behaviours, Kali Peacock knows only too well the barriers that can stand between families and family trips to things like the theatre. Kali, proud mum of ten-year-old Finn and also daughters Naia and Rae, has made it her mission to break those barriers down.
She set up UnderWired Productions and is now offering her third musical (and fourth production) with the company, a brand-new multi-sensory family musical called Rainbow Rae And The Colour Stone Rescue (written by Kali and with music by Tony Award-winning composer Sarah Travis).
Rainbow Rae And The Colour Stone Rescue will play at three south-east venues. The show will premiere at the Izzard Theatre in Bexhill-on-Sea playing from August 8-11 before moving to the Hailsham Pavilion Theatre from August 14-19 and finishing its run at Eastbourne Theatres’ Shackleton Hall from August 22-27.
https://www.underwiredproductions.com/
She set up UnderWired Productions and is now offering her third musical (and fourth production) with the company, a brand-new multi-sensory family musical called Rainbow Rae And The Colour Stone Rescue (written by Kali and with music by Tony Award-winning composer Sarah Travis).
Rainbow Rae And The Colour Stone Rescue will play at three south-east venues. The show will premiere at the Izzard Theatre in Bexhill-on-Sea playing from August 8-11 before moving to the Hailsham Pavilion Theatre from August 14-19 and finishing its run at Eastbourne Theatres’ Shackleton Hall from August 22-27.
https://www.underwiredproductions.com/
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FunTranscript
00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor of Sussex Newspapers. Always lovely
00:06 to speak to Carly Peacock. And Carly, you've created something absolutely fabulous in East
00:11 Sussex, haven't you? A theatre company, Underwire Productions, and you're just about to do a
00:16 mini tour, Bexhill, Hailsham, Eastbourne, of Rainbow Ray and the Colourstone Rescue.
00:22 Now, Carly, you were saying that you really want to create something to give away for
00:27 nothing. Explain that. Yes, it's not a very sensible business model,
00:33 but I've been really motivated by business. I am passionately a believer that all children
00:41 should experience live theatre, and so we are dedicated to removing the barriers that
00:46 prevent that, physical or financial. So this year we've given away over 4,000 complimentary
00:52 family tickets to schools across Bexhill. That's astonishing, isn't it? That number
00:57 is quite... Yeah, it's incredible. It is incredible.
01:01 So if the family's out there, all they need to do is pick a venue and give the voucher
01:04 number and they'll get exchange for their tickets.
01:07 Absolutely. And you are motivated by the fact that you really do know something about the
01:12 barriers which can go up around theatre. Just say something a little bit about your family
01:16 circumstances. Yeah, so I'm a mother of a very proud mum
01:20 of three children. My eldest son, Finn, is 10 and he was born severely disabled with
01:25 complex needs and challenging behaviours. And I have two daughters, Naya, who is eight,
01:29 and Ray, who is five. And one of the things that we found most frustrating about the journey
01:34 as a family with a child with additional needs is the lack of opportunities for us to do
01:41 things together as a family. We find ourselves splitting up. I did take my son to a show.
01:49 It didn't go very well. He had a massive meltdown in the middle of the front row and they took
01:55 away his wheels. So I was carrying him up four flights of stairs, sobbing my heart out,
02:00 thinking there must be a way, there must be a better way.
02:03 And you've created that way. We'll do it. We'll create it. We'll make
02:09 it happen. So that's what we're doing. And with the company, you've achieved so
02:13 much in a relatively short space of time in terms of impact, in terms of development and
02:19 growth. It's been a fantastic trajectory, hasn't it?
02:22 I'm extremely fortunate to be supported by an incredible lady called Deb, who I work
02:27 with for 10 months a year, raising funds to be able to do this. Sarah Travis, who is an
02:33 incredible composer, who writes the music with me. And each year we've built on the
02:38 year before. So the first year we were really thinking about children with disabilities,
02:42 which is why our music is always live. We've got a three piece band this year for the first
02:47 time. Then the following year we were thinking, well, what about children whose parents can't
02:52 afford food? So we worked with the food banks and gave them free tickets. And then the 2022,
02:58 we started looking at Eastbourne Networks, which integrate asylum seekers and refugees,
03:03 and we gave them free tickets. And then this year we've gone to all the schools with children
03:09 with eligible for free school meals and given them free tickets. So each year we're trying
03:12 to reach more and more and more people.
03:15 Goodness. And those barriers that you're breaking down, they're all kinds of barriers, aren't
03:19 they? They're physical, they are financial, they're societal. It's astonishing, isn't
03:25 it? What you've done.
03:27 Well, I'm proud of myself.
03:30 You should be proud.
03:31 I am, I am. But there's always more to do. There's always more people to try and reach
03:36 and to try and get to. It's quite tricky sometimes to say to people it's genuinely free. I think
03:44 people are naturally a bit suspicious because nobody does something for nothing.
03:49 No such thing as a free lunch.
03:52 We're genuinely going, look, this is why we spend the time raising the funds so that we
03:56 can just open the doors.
03:58 And tell me a little bit about the story in this particular production. Your third production,
04:04 isn't it?
04:05 It is. Our third musical, yeah, our fourth production. And there's a very naughty wizard
04:10 called Wizard Whack who has stolen the colour stones and they power all the colour in the
04:15 world. And unless they're reunited in 90 minutes, the world is going to turn black and white
04:20 because he thinks things are simpler like that.
04:24 But Ray takes on the mission, but she can't do it on her own. She needs all the children
04:29 in the audience to help her solve the puzzles, find the stones, restore the colour and defeat
04:36 Wizard Whack.
04:37 And Ray is the name of one of your daughters. And that's not a coincidence, is it?
04:43 No. So the idea for Rainbow Ray came through lockdown when we were having a particularly
04:49 challenging family time and we went to the forest every day just to get out for a couple
04:54 of hours with our family. And the girls would say, tell us a story, Mum. And so we started
05:01 creating Rainbow Ray and then say, well, let's go to the Red World today. What can the Red
05:05 World be? And so it came to what we were going to do this summer. And I thought, well, let's
05:10 do Rainbow Ray. So my youngest is thrilled and my middle daughter Naya is going, right,
05:15 Mum, what are you going to write about me next year?
05:17 Yeah, you know what it's got to be for next year, don't you, Nats?
05:22 And you are playing Bexhill, Hailsham and Eastbourne. Are you going further afield or
05:27 are you going to remain in East Sussex?
05:30 I want to work where I live. I love Eastbourne and I love the surrounding areas and I want
05:35 to stay local and will certainly open it up. And then if it has a life of its own afterwards,
05:41 then brilliant. And if it gets to other people, then brilliant. But I'm an Eastbourne girl.
05:47 I'm proud of it, rightly. Well, really lovely to see you. Thank you so much for your time
05:52 and good luck with everything, Carly.
05:55 Thank you so much, Phil. Thanks for talking to me.