ABSTRACT
A conversation about accessibility – from a disability perspective – at the Fringe may start as a conversation about artmaking, but may seemingly and inevitably become a much more far-reaching conversation about rights, comfort, discomfort, and what it means to be part of a community. While disabled and otherwise marginalised artists have been present at the Fringe for years, a number of concerted efforts have been made to address the festival's chronic and shameful lack of overall accessibility and to find new ways to showcase disabled artists and connect new audiences to their work. The chapter presents transcript that was an interview with Jess Thom – who performs as Touretteshero – whose show Backstage in Biscuit Land was transformative for the conversation about access at the Fringe. The chapter provides accurate reflections on how radical social justice, and disability justice-informed performance, can puncture the bubble of commercialism and Broadway-bound dreams of Fringe culture.
