Tonight No Escape opens in The Peacock Theatre and there have been a number of developments since I wrote about the lack of access to The Peacock and the rights of people with disabilities to both access the venue and bare witness to the work of Mary Raftery and others.

After some further discussions and suggestions from myself and others the Abbey have tonight released a statement outlining their intentions both regarding future access to the venue and also the staging of a performance of No Escape in an accessible venue next week.

The Abbey Theatre regrets that the Peacock Theatre is not accessible to patrons who require wheelchair and disability access. The Abbey Theatre has already made contact with the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport to highlight the
current shameful situation.
Director of the Abbey Theatre, Fiach Mac Conghail said, “An architect has been retained to design, cost and work out a schedule to implement the changes necessary to make the Peacock Theatre fully accessible. I also will be writing to
Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Sport, Mary Hanafin T.D. to seek a meeting on this issue and Paddy Doyle has agreed to join me.�
On Tuesday 20 April, there will be a performance of NO ESCAPE in the Liberty Hall Centre. This is a fully accessible space. The performance will take place at 8pm, for further information please contact the Abbey Theatre box office at (01) 8787 222 or visit www.abbeytheatre.ie

So if you know someone with a disability who would be interested in attending please let them know!  People without disabilities might also consider attending on the night in support of accessible venues and the rights of people with disabilities to respect, dignity and protection from abuse in the future.