Our Story
Storywood Inclusive Arts developed out of our Children`s Theatre company, Storywood Theatre Productions, which had been creating theatre for and with children for more than 20 years. During 2006, our one founder, Margot Wood, started devising sensory theatre experiences for the very young after receiving training from Helios Theatre, Germany. In 2019, she attended the Big Umbrella Festival for Autism at the Lincoln Centre, NYC where she obtained training in the creation of theatre for audiences with specific neurological and sensory needs from companies experienced in the field – Trusty Sidekick (USA), Oily Cart (UK) and Sensorium Theatre (Australia). This was followed by a residency with Oily Cart in the UK creating sensory experiences for children with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities.
After this, the production went on an outreach tour of 66 performances to schools and institutions for, not only children with ASD, but also adults with cognitive challenges. This programme was unfortunately interrupted by COVID19, but during lockdown Margot Wood embarked on research and a postgraduate study in this form of theatre. A training programme for potential actor/facilitators was devised and presented to students in Applied Theatre at UCT. She presented at a number of conferences based on the work done during the outreach. During 2022 the company was again able to reach its audiences and devised a second production, Into the Garden, which was taken on a second outreach tour. At the end of 2022 the non-profit company was founded to further promote the work.
