Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Michèle talks to Zak Ford-Williams, screen and stage actor in Bridgerton (Lord Remington), The Hardacres (Harry Hardacre), Wolfe (Tyler) and The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man (Joseph Merrick).

Zak knew he wanted to act at six years old, after seeing George’s Marvellous Medicine. Though he didn’t initially identify himself as disabled as a young child, he later realised how excluded he was. Stubbornness kept him going - knowing he wasn’t alone.  Zak says 'Many young disabled people dream of creating art but feel there’s no space for them'.

Thank you Zak for an incredibly in-depth and informative conversation.

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Clare Hammerton carried out the independent evaluation for the Ramps on the Moon consortium. 

In this episode, Michèle asks her about the challenges of evaluation (especially in a multi-partner project) as well as talking about why it’s so important and powerful. 

Clare puts the Ramps evaluation into the wider context  of her work around empowerment and participation and explains why it’s so important to think carefully about how you’re going to capture the data you need. 

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Ben Wilson and Aisling Gallagher have been Ramps on the Moon Agents for Change at Sheffield and Theatre Royal Stratford East respectively. They are both also independent theatre-makers.

They give us a fascinating insight into what an Agent for Change does - and doesn’t do - to support organisational transformation, why being annoying, and why they have a trampoline instead of a desk. 

Aisling celebrates the times things happen without their having any input and Ben tackles head on one of the key criticisms of Ramps on the Moon.

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Michèle talks to David Bellwood - Head of Access at The National Theatre

Michèle and David discuss rigour around language and what it means for David to be a non-disabled person working in the area of ‘access’. 

David throws down the gauntlet: can he and Michèle find a word that can usefully replace ‘access’ by the end of the episode? 

They explore vulnerability and transparency as important values of his work.

Thank you to David for your time!

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Eleanor Lang and Sean Brooks are from Theatre Royal Stratford East. Eleanor is Executive Director and Sean is Deputy Producer and a freelance producer.

Michèle asks the 64 million dollar question, “What is a Producer, anyway?” and gets a great answer in which Eleanor and Sean unpack the process. 

They discuss the growing recognition in the industry of the importance of having early conversations about what everyone needs to do their best work, and Sean shares his advice for creating the best kind of rehearsal room - before getting anarchic when he talks about dismantling structures.

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Amongst other things, Andrew Miller is the UK Arts Access Champion and a broadcaster and cultural consultant and commentator with an impressive CV. 

In this episode, Michèle asks Andrew about his career so far, and the ‘accidents and disappointments’ that got him to where he is now. Andrew talks about the moments of change that he’s been a part of, the importance of representation and what’s needed for sustaining change. 

This is a wide-ranging discussion in which Andrew shares his perspective on the cultural sector, informed by his professional and personal experience .

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Disability equality leader, Michèle Taylor invites Amy Leach, Deputy Artistic Director at Leeds Playhouse to talk about her work as a director and how her approach has grown as a result of working with disabled and deaf performers. 

Amy talks about ‘packing on the muscle’ as a director, goosebumps moments, the team you might expect to find in a Ramps rehearsal room, and her advice to ‘just put it in the brochure’.!

Amy Leach is Deputy Artistic Director at Leeds Playhouse. She directed the Ramps co-production of Oliver Twist in 2020 which she then reworked into a film which can now be found on the National Theatre At Home streaming service.

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Disability equality expert, Michèle Taylor, talks to Dan Bates, former chief executive of The Crucible, Sheffield Playhouse and the Sheffield Lyceum.... asking him how he started to make it happen as a Ramps on the Moon partner.
excited to be a part of Ramps on the Moon, the irony of scheduling the first Ramps meeting in a room with all sorts of access challenges, and how his learning has changed his practice as a cultural leader, and the importance of care and attention.

Dan Bates is Executive Director of Bradford City of Culture 2025 and until November 2022 was Chief Executive of Sheffield Theatres, a founding member of Ramps on the Moon.

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk 

Chat to Ramps on the Moon right here!

Welcome to the Ramps on the Moon Podcast.

In this first episode, Anti-Ableist leader, Michèle Taylor invites Sarah Holmes into the recording studio to talk about how Ramps first started; from conception in 2015 to present day.

Meeting together for the first time in a London train station café they both knew something very positive and exciting was about to happen in the theatre industry.

Listen to their story of how they made things happen; the challenges, the learning and the joys - and whether they are, alongside many theatre partners, really 'changing the world'!

Sarah Holmes is an independent theatre consultant and was Chief Executive of the New Wolsey Theatre until June 2022; she was also the key founding partner of Ramps on the Moon. Sarah was awarded ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award’ by UK Theatres in 2023.

Thank you for listening. For further information and to get in touch with us please visit our website HERE.

Ramps on the Moon Podcast is hosted by Michèle Taylor. MBE, Director for Change for Ramps on the Moon.

Michèle takes the Ramps on the Moon podcast straight into the engine room of mainstream theatre. Across all episodes, she chats with actors, directors, producers and chief executives to uncover the joys, the tensions, the breakthroughs and the lessons in placing disabled people at the centre of cultural organisations.

Michèle shares the realities of the ‘now’ and what the future can hold for disability equality in the arts with Anti-Ableism weaved into every part of an organisation.

If you'd like to be considered as a guest on this podcast, or have a subject you'd like Michèle to talk about - please contact: [email protected] 

This podcast is produced and managed by Podtalk.co.uk