RSC casts first Disabled Richard III
The Royal Shakespeare Company has cast its first ever Disabled Richard III. The medieval king, who is believed to have had scoliosis, will be played by Arthur Hughes, who has described the role as a "dream come true".
"I’m thrilled not only to be playing this title role at the RSC, but also that a major production of this play is putting disability centre stage," he said. "Richard is the most murderous and charismatic character in Shakespeare's plays, and…he’s disabled!
"It’s sadly rare in many plays to find a leading disabled character, and with this production I hope we prove that disabled talent deserves to be in the spotlight."
CODA nominated for Oscars
A film with three leading Deaf actors, CODA, has been nominated for three Oscars at this year’s ceremony. Troy Kotsur is nominated for best supporting actor, while the film has been nominated for best adapted screenplay and best picture. The film takes its name from the abbreviation for ‘children of deaf adults’. CODA can be seen on subscription streaming service Apple TV in the UK. Read more here.
Channel 4 announces all-Disabled people Winter Paralympic presenting team
The presenting team for Channel 4’s coverage of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will be made up entirely of Disabled presenters and pundits. The broadcaster says it is a “global first” for a “world-class sporting event”.
The ground-breaking team will lead more than 80 hours of Paralympics coverage around the clock from China on free-to-air television, with content also streaming on Channel 4’s YouTube channel.
Michael Erhardt, Spokesperson at DR UK project Get Yourself Active, said: “Disabled people have waited a long time to be properly represented in sports media. This announcement is a significant step, and we are all very excited to watch this year’s games.
“We hope that Channel 4 will make all changes necessary for this coverage to be as accessible as possible, especially following the recent subtitle outage. Disabled people deserve to see themselves in the media, and we hope that this global first sparks real and widespread change.” The Winter Paralympics start on 4 March 2022.