Shannen McNeice and Replay Theatre - Between Galaxies

Back in April, Shannen McNeice saw a post on social meda about a brainstorming and info session for the Bank of Ideas at Two Sisters Cafe and she came along to hear what other people were planning.

“The workshop was really inspiring. It was great to see how creative people are in east Belfast. I came to it with an idea but I had to make some changes to fit within the funding criteria. It really challenged me to think through how to make this work to get the most out of it. 

Shannen is the Fellow for Replay Theatre, which is an unfunded position, but they were her sponsor organisation for the Bank of Ideas project.

“I was unsuccessful with a SIAP application last year and it was really disheartening. There were so many things I wanted the show to do then that couldn‘t happen. Then when I saw the Bank of Ideas opportunity, it was perfect. It became the lifeline I really needed as I had no other options available to me. Without the Bank of Ideas funding the show wouldn’t have been open to east Belfast.”

Shannen is an actor in Belfast and also works as a special needs classroom assistant at Park School. She applied for the time to work on the show and to present it in East Belfast.

“I was apprehensive going in on the voting day as I didn’t know how busy it would be, whether people would come along. I was thinking, ‘How many people usually come in to city hall on a Sunday?’”

But Shannen called out far and wide for support and Replay Theatre pushed too.

“Once it opened, there was a huge influx of people and it was overwhelming, but then later quietened down and we were able to get around the other stall holders. It was great craic meeting all the other creative people and soaking up the atmosphere.

Shannen brought sensory equipment from the show on the day, so that children and adults could get a taster of what the show would be all about. One of the Replay Theatre members, Andrew Stanford, accompanied her and showed a video of past performances from Replay to give an idea of what a complex needs show looks like, with children’s faces lighting up in delight. Reply members even made flyers to give out on the day.

“There was a lot of talking to people, but I felt confident  that we had gotten a lot of support. I knew what I was presenting was a worthwhile cause as it is immersive theatre for children with complex needs and PMLD, profound and multiple learning disabilities. It was really lovely to see public response to that. I made a lot of worthwhile connections with people as they understood why this is important. I felt really good leaving City Hall that day, confident that so many more people knew about my work now, and were so positive about it.”

“The whole Bank of Ideas process made me feel great. Sometimes it feels that the only way to make a project happen in Belfast is through the Arts Council so when you’re unsuccessful that is really disheartening. But with the Bank of Ideas -  this was Belfast itself voting for us. People of Belfast said yes we want to see this happen. It feels really nice to have your city backing you.”

When setting up one performance of the show in a school, the teachers told us there was one child who couldn’t be around other kids and would find it really hard to watch the show. The classroom assistants said they couldn’t get him to interact with anything.

“I said to them, why don’t you bring me in and we’ll see what happens. And he brought his beanbag in instead of sitting in one of the sensory chairs, and he stayed the whole time. The classroom assistants were crying, saying this has never happened before, where he was able to enjoy something with his peers.”

For the show day in East Belfast, Shannen had 10 children and 8 adults come along at different times for three showings. The show is meant for a small intimate audience of children with complex needs and PMLD.  Each show can only hold 4 adults and 4 children at a time.

“We had one family come that day who had 2 neurotypical children and one with complex needs. The mother said it was one of the best experiences she’d ever had that her entire family had been able to enjoy. She said it was very rare to find activities they can all enjoy together but this had given her an incredibly special memory to hold onto.

Shannen said she was nervous before the show and had a bit of Imposter syndrome but it went far better than she thought. “It was really rewarding and taught me a lot about my capability. It’s lovely to walk away feeling like this.”

Shannen is hoping the show will go on tour in 2025. Her big goal is to have it run as part of various children's festivals, and to adapt it to be able to run in theatres for an extended period.

Photo credit Replay Theatre/Neil Harrison.