Review: Brrr, Lyra Artspace

The Imaginate Festival offers superb opportunities to discover new and interesting forms of performance for young people, and this year, Brrr from choreographer Hayley Earlam is a delightful revelation. Designed for and with young people and a team of specialist inclusive artists, this installation creates a beautiful wintry experience based around snow and frost for an audience aged 10-18 years with complex needs. The event takes place at Lyra Artspace in Craigmillar, which is Scotland’s only arts venue exclusively for children and teenagers, and where inclusivity is at the core of the work.

Entering the building, we’re in a totally welcoming environment. There’s no rush to be seated, and the needs of the participants are prioritised. The young people and their carers are invited to enter a huge inflatable snowdome, where they can sit or recline on comfy cushions around the performance space. Ambulant participants and wheelchair or mobility aid users are easily accommodated, and this is a relaxed performance where people are free to come and go. There’s an additional chill-out space for anyone needing to step out for a moment.

Brrr is wordless, meaning it’s suitable for anyone, whether they be non-verbal, non-English speakers or part of a d/Deaf audience. It’s also a space where neurodivergent individuals or people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD) can feel comfortable and involved. As gentle music plays, the dancers move constantly within the domed performance space, allowing the audience to get used to their presence. A soothing environment is created, with beautifully rhythmic music that lets participants engage with the dance at their own pace. 

The performers use multiple dimensions to explore the space, moving high and low, up and down and respectfully approaching the audience to invite them to engage with themed sensory elements. We’re able to pick up snowballs, touch them or roll them across the floor. The props and set are all beautifully tactile, offering fluffy furs, rippled tubes, felt snowballs and paper pieces. Each attendee is offered individual attention at some point, with the performers suggesting activities and sensitively responding to whatever the young person wants to do with any props that stimulate their interest.

This is a white wonderland but accentuated with a colourful, shifting nebula of light, sometimes integrated into rippling corrugated tubes that flux and bend to bring visual interest. Additionally, at one point, a huge tube wraps around the dancers, connecting them, before the young people are invited to listen to sounds passed through it, or to perhaps fill it with snowballs, only for them to be ejected into the air moments later. It’s gentle fun that brings smiles and empowerment.

A highlight is a visually dramatic section where fans are brought in, and silver paper dynamically fills the air. Now the space is excitingly transformed, and we’re inside a snowglobe. All the sensory elements become heightened, with participants encouraged to lean into the breeze or feed it with paper pieces, creating their own snowstorm. Nothing is overly difficult, and everything is safe but wonderful.

It’s really encouraging to see work like this being more frequently developed in the theatre industry, recognising underrepresented sectors and taking positive action to meet their needs. Brrr brings enormous value to its intended audience, who can actively engage with and guide a beautiful, creative experience on their own terms, celebrating the sensory and the snowy with splendour and humour. 

Choreographer: Hayley Earlam
Producer: Isy Sharman
Designer: Jenny Booth
Composer & Sound Artist: Ollie Hawker
Video Designer: Rob Willoughby
Set Construction: Marmoset Construction & New Wolf Productions 
Created in association with Capital Theatres, with support from Creative Scotland, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Innovation Studio, and The Work Room’s Residency Programme.

Brrr has completed its performances at The Lyra Artspace but will return later in the year.