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.
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