Calling Up Justice partnered with Lower Bottom Playaz, BAM House and Disability Justice Culture Club to present an Accessible Audiencing matinee of Going to St. Ives by Lee Blessing. The event centered disability access from the very beginning of the audience experience. Our Accessible Audiencing cohort included seven community members, supported by two ASL interpreters throughout the performance. Before the show began, we led a guided tour of the entire venue so participants could familiarize themselves with the theater, locate amenities, understand the layout, and settle into the space with greater comfort and confidence before the performance.
The theater worked collaboratively with us to create a welcoming access experience. Our reserved access section featured comfortable cushioned seating, and, most importantly, every audience member wore a mask throughout the performance. This collective commitment to masking created a level of safety that allowed many disabled and immunocompromised attendees to fully participate in a live theater event. Jay from Disability Culture Club reflected afterward, “It felt safe that folks were masking. I felt everything else was very good. It was a good play.” That feeling of safety and belonging was one of the event’s greatest successes and demonstrated how thoughtful access planning can transform the audience experience.
The production successfully met the core access needs we set out to provide. ASL interpretation, audio descriptions, a social story, PPE, a low-sensory retreat space, and intentional audience support all contributed to a positive experience for participants. The event reinforced that Accessible Audiencing is not simply about accommodations—it is about creating the conditions for disabled people to gather in community, experience art together, and know they are expected and welcomed.
As with every Accessible Audiencing event, we also identified opportunities for growth. In future productions, we plan to coordinate stage lighting for ASL interpreters earlier in the production process so interpretation is consistently well illuminated. We also want to strengthen our outreach strategies to increase participation from disabled audiences and continue building relationships with disability communities throughout the Bay Area. Finally, we recognized that while the front row of cushioned seating worked well for many guests, the narrower seats immediately behind them created challenges for some disabled attendees and their companions. We will continue working with venue partners to think creatively about seating configurations that better support disabled patrons who attend alongside family members, partners, or support people.
These observations are truly icing on the cake. The event achieved its primary goal: creating an accessible, joyful, and community-centered theater experience where disabled audience members could attend comfortably and safely. We left encouraged by what was accomplished and excited to continue refining the Accessible Audiencing model with each future production.
ARCHIVE July 2026
Accessible Audiencing: The Lower Bottom Playaz presents Going to St. Ives by Lee Blessing
Saturday, July 18 2pm | BAM House | 1540 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612
Experience Going to St. Ives by Lee Blessing with access built into the heart of the performance. This special event is a co-production of Calling Up Justice, BAM House, and the Lower Bottom Playaz.
For this production, we’re working with Disability Justice Culture Club, and The Center for Independent Living, SF Disability Culture Center for promotion and audience development.
Update: FREE TICKETS!!! Thanks to generosity we are able to offer free tickets for this matinee.
Access Features for This Performance
- ASL Interpretation
- Masks Required
- PPE Table with free masks and COVID tests
- Low Sensory Space for anyone needing a quiet retreat
- Audio Descriptions of main characters’ outfits, scenes, and stage
- Social Story: a plain language guide to the play, the space, and what to expect or discover
About Accessible Audiencing
Accessible Audiencing is a Calling Up Justice program that brings access-centered planning to cultural events. We provide site visits, coordinate with partners, arrange access services, and help with audience development — so everyone can participate fully. If you want to bring Accessible Audiencing to your production, contact us here.
Accessible Audiencing is more than accommodations — it’s a community-powered approach to attending cultural events together with dignity, safety, and joy. Join us on July 18 at BAM House and experience what access-forward theater feels like. Use special code: callingupjustice for 30% off tickets! FREE TICKETS for our Accessible Audiencing matinee! Just show up.
Audio Description
These audio tracks provides descriptions of main characters’ outfits, scenes, and and set provided by intern E’niyah Wilson.
Scene 1 2min
Scene 2 Description 1.45 min
Social Story: Accessible Audiencing: BAMBDFEST
a plain language guide to the play, the space, and what to expect or discover
About Lower Bottom Playaz
The primary purpose of the Lower Bottom Playaz, Inc (LBP) is to foster the creation, production, and presentation of quality theater in the tradition of the Black Arts continuum. LBP is dedicated to the excavation, critical examination, and illumination of the conditions of North American cities and the lived realities of disenfranchised communities through the creation of original works, production of material available from the North American African canon, and the works of artists considered marginalized and/or whose works center Blackness. We employ artists to perform, create work, present work, and train youth in theater arts. We concentrate on the presentation and creation of work from a Black lens that connects us to the universal in the human condition, and enables dialogues that engage perceptions of difference, and issues of concern for the family human. LBP purposefully use performance as a way of increasing social awareness, providing an entry point to community concerns, as well as to stimulate, celebrate and enhance understanding of ourselves and others through the shared experience of live theatre. LBP utilizes the arts to create a more conscious and compassionate public sphere, as well as to inspire, nurture, challenge, educate and empower artists and audiences. We intend to foster more conscious and compassionate communities, to inspire in all of us the willingness to explore new ideas, and to generate dialogues concerning class, the social order, and equity for all. Our intentions are to entertain, inform, and educate, thereby enriching all we engage and adding value to the cultural fabric of the spaces we enliven.
About the Theater Space
The performance is at the Black Arts Movement (BAM) House, located at 1540 Broadway in Downtown Oakland.
- Outside the building:
- The front is painted bright red and black with green trim.
- Above the doors, you’ll see words like Theater, Film, Music, Dance, Art, Comedy.
- The entrance has green framed glass doors.
- Lobby area:
- You will enter through the glass doors.
- The lobby has places to sit, posters about events, and doors leading into the theater.
- The doors on the right side of the lobby lead directly to the theater space.
- Inside the theater:
- This is a black box theater, which means the walls are painted black and the space can change for each show.
- There are about 100 seats.
- The first two rows have soft green cushioned lounge chairs.
- Behind them, there are black folding chairs in rows up a staircase platform.
- Ushers will help you find your seat.
What to Expect During the Show
- The story has moments that are funny, emotional, and sometimes serious or sad.
- The play uses realistic everyday language, which may include strong words.
- The show will last about 2 ½ to 3 hours with a break in the middle (intermission).
- During intermission, you can use the restroom, stretch, or step outside.
Accessibility and Comfort
- You can arrive early to get comfortable in the space.
- There will be a table with PPE and free masks
- If you need help, staff and ushers are available.
- You can leave the theater at any time if you need a break and return quietly.
- The theater is intimate, so you will be close to the actors.
About the play Going to St. Ives
Going to St. Ives is a play by Lee Blessing about two women—the mother of a brutal African dictator and an English eye surgeon—who meet in England, leading to a tense moral and political conflict over the dictator’s fate, as the mother seeks poison to kill her son, while the doctor seeks help freeing imprisoned colleagues, forcing both to confront their personal and political responsibilities. The drama explores themes of motherhood, justice, and the complex relationship between personal morality and political action, as the two women, despite their differences, find common ground in their shared experience as mothers.