Frozen Light undertakes huge 50-venue tour
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Multi-sensory experience for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities undertakes biggest tour
A multi-sensory experience for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their companions will make its way across the country in a vast, 50-venue tour that takes the ground-breaking show to nearly every region in the United Kingdom.
The UK’s longest running theatre company dedicated to multisensory performance, Frozen Light, will tour The Ancient Oak of Baldor throughout 2025 and into 2026, making it one of the biggest tours the company has undertaken. The goal: ensure as many people as possible can benefit from and delight in the work of Frozen Light – theatre you can touch, smell, and which happens during intimate one-to-one interactions with each and every audience member.
The Ancient Oak stands strong in the Forest of Baldor, in the land of Earten. There it has stood for millennia, rooted deeply to both the land and people of the forest. On this day, at the cusp of winter, the people of Baldor are celebrating The Great Cracking of the Ancient Oak. Elspeth hoped this was the day that Lars would return. But when he doesn’t she is taken on an unexpected journey. One that she will never forget.
Frozen Light co-founder and co-artistic director Lucy Garland says, “We are excited to be touring The Ancient Oak of Baldor to such an incredible number of venues. The production transports audiences into a fantasy realm. We wanted to create a safe environment to enable audiences to explore grief, community and storytelling. It is a show for adult audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities who are often underserved by the arts. We cannot wait to share this show, which has been over a year in the making, with audiences across the country.”
Founded in 2013, Frozen Light have created nine shows which have toured to over 70 different venues across the UK. The Bar at the Edge of Time, which received five-star reviews, was an Offies finalist and took out the ABTT Stephen Joseph Award in 2024. In 2016 they were the first company to take a show specifically for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and returned again in 2017 as part of the British Council Showcase. In 2019 they were invited to New Zealand to support the development of the country’s first show specifically for audiences with PMLD, Masina Returning Home. Since 2020, alongside their touring work, Frozen Light has launched The Frozen Light Podcast, created two digital productions, and developed a choral festival show and their first outdoor show, Night Out in Nature.
Tickets for The Ancient Oak of Baldor are selling fast. Please find details below.
“This is a show that offers its audience a taste of intoxicating theatre, delivered in a safe space by gentle, skilled performers, yet with all the wild thrills intact. It was the best gig I’ve been to in ages, in a bar where everyone gets to share the good times.” (The Bar at the Edge of Time) The Stage ***** (Read full review)
“Theatre should be for everyone and the work done by everyone on the show makes it so. A celebration of joy and humanity. An hour of theatre perfection.” Beyond the Curtain ***** (read full review)
“Frozen Light’s clever design and energetic, likeable performances combine to create a delightful show for audiences with PMLD” The Stage **** (read full review)
“The way the show is so carefully tailored to the audience’s needs provides a vital reminder that theatre can accommodate everyone.” The Stage **** (read full review)
CAST AND CREATIVES:
By Frozen Light Theatre
Original Concept: Lucy Garland & Amber Onat Gregory
Director: Kate O'Connor
Set and Cocktail Design: Kat Heath
Composer & Sound Design: Sam Halmarack
Creative Access Consultant: Phoebe Kemp
Cast: Jake Oldershaw, Ting-Ning Wen & Hazel Simmons
www.frozenlighttheatre.com
X: @frozentheatre
i: @frozenlighttheatre
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