Every seat should have a great view.

Theatres and arts venues face a unique accessibility challenge: the experience itself is the product. A retail store can widen an aisle. A hotel can allocate a different room. But when the product is a live performance, the barriers are woven into the artistic experience itself, and removing them requires creative thinking, not just compliance.

The Equality Act 2010 applies to all entertainment venues, and the anticipatory duty means theatres must consider accessibility before disabled audience members book, not after they arrive. Arts Council England has made accessibility a condition of funding for National Portfolio Organisations, making barrier removal both a legal obligation and a funding requirement.

The UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre's access guidelines set sector-specific standards covering captioned performances, audio-described performances, BSL-interpreted performances, relaxed performances, and accessible booking systems. Meeting these standards isn't optional for venues that want to serve their full potential audience.

Relaxed performances are one of the clearest examples of the social model in action within theatre. The performance itself stays largely the same, but the environment around it changes: house lights stay slightly up, the audience is free to move around or make noise, sudden loud sounds or flashing lights are reduced or flagged in advance.

This removes barriers for autistic audience members, people with learning disabilities, parents with young children, and anyone who experiences anxiety in traditional theatre environments where strict silence is expected. The performance doesn't change who it's for; the environment changes to welcome more people.

More theatres are recognising that relaxed performances aren't a charitable add-on but a revenue opportunity, filling seats that would otherwise stay empty and building new audiences who've historically been excluded.