Something I’m passionate about as a disabled fan of and content creator within this industry is that it can and should be doing more to promote disabled actors, creatives and stories, both onstage and off. That’s why I was incredibly honoured to be invited to interview Christopher John Slater, currently starring in the UK tour of ANIMAL.

The winner of the inaugural Through The Mill Prize (Hope Mill Theatre supported by Jonathan Harvey) and shortlisted for the Papatango Prize out of over a staggering 1,500 entries, ANIMAL is by Jon Bradfield from a story from Bradfield and Josh Hepple.

Meet David – gay, disabled and profoundly horny. He can’t eat, drink or shower by himself – let alone the rest. Totally inexperienced, he embarks on a sexual and romantic odyssey, armed with a fierce brain and impressive nudes (that he has to get someone else to take). But can David keep it casual whilst also relying on round-the-clock care? Can he manage the thrill and uncertainty of random hook-ups after a lifetime of knock-backs? 

Christopher and I talk representation, the rehearsal, touring and creative process as a disabled actor, and what the industry can do to champion better accessibility.

As a disabled person who loves this industry, I wanted to say thank you to you and all the team for
sharing a story that is going to resonate so much with me and hopefully members of your audience
who may not have experience with or exposure to disability. What drew you to the project?

The fact that it’s a real story. It’s the story of this man who has challenges with his sex life and the
fact that the story doesn’t shy away from quite an important matter of disability and relationships. I
believe that this is a very strong piece and I think it’s very important that we talk about characters
that have experiences like this because there is more than just Josh Hepple (who is the creator), there
are going to be more people like him and my character that can’t satisfy their own needs without
somebody else. We’ve had stories about disability, but they’ve been about the disability and not the
person. It’s very nice to have a play about a character with a disability rather than a
disability being just the story.

How has the rehearsal and creative process been – is it more intense working on a piece that reflects
elements of experiences you yourself may have had?

So, the rehearsal and creative process has been difficult because I am playing a man with a more
severe disability than myself, so I am kind of creating a character and creating the man’s disability,
which has been hard to deduce. Say we are at a point in the play where the character is upset about
everything – I don’t want it to be a stereotype. I want the character and disability to not just be about
that. I want it to be realistic and I want people to believe the character has a disability.
I myself have not had quite the extreme case (of cerebral palsy). I have had problems with
relationships and you do fear that you are not quite…there have been times where I feel I’m not
lovable, and finding someone to make you feel you are lovable is very difficult. I feel like you kind of
go to ‘nobody wants this, nobody wants speech or walking problems or any other problems someone
might have’. It’s quite hard to find anyone that loves that or accepts that. Relationships have been a
challenge, a wonderful challenge to tackle and I feel like we have done such a good job shining a light
on the LGBTQ+ community and the disabled community. I feel like we have achieved what we need to
achieve which is great.

ANIMAL is touring to Manchester, Bristol, then onto London for a run at the Park Theatre. How do
you find regional venues and audiences, and touring more generally as a disabled actor?

Touring can be very difficult and very taxing on the body. Obviously having Cerebral Palsy, everything
doubles, so if I walk five steps with CP, I’ve walked ten. So, it’s all about planning ahead and going
home and resting. I will leave as soon as I can from (the theatre in) Manchester to get home and then
when I go to Bristol I will leave as soon as I can to get to London, so we have longer at home in our
digs. Rest is very important for an actor, especially for a disabled actor – very important to keep your
rest and just take it a bit more easy. Remember your limits and everything else.
As far as the regional audiences go, we’ve only done Manchester so far! But I have done shows in
London. It’s an old Don Pasquale comment that the audiences as you further up the country they are
better! I’m not seeing a reason to support that… I think with the play it’s all about how the LGBTQ+
community is in the audience. A lot is in the in jokes and disabled jokes – you need to do your
research when coming to the play! That’s always good. Not seen much of a difference yet (in
audiences), but I’ll find out when I’m in London and Bristol very soon.

Your career has encompassed stage and screen, I imagine they both have different elements that
make them exciting as well as challenging. Do you enjoy that variety as an actor, and is there
something you haven’t done yet that you’d like to?

I would like to do, this sounds weird, but an old school martial arts film maybe! I would love to do
more theatre, a lot more theatre. But I would also love to push the boundaries of it a whole lot more
and show that disabled people can kick butt and they can be more than just the disabled character
we need. I would bring some substance to disabled roles and bring a bit more to it. I try and do
theatre and TV, they are very different roles. Very different to master. TV is all about what the
director wants, and the director shows the best bits of a scene. Theatre is different every night –
every show is different. I’ve done shows where every single show is different, and I love that.
Whereas film is more like a ‘fast-food’ kind of acting. Lovely to watch, lovely to do and every actor’s
different but it’s a bit less out there.

What’s one thing the industry should do to ensure it becomes more inclusive to disabled actors and
other creatives? And how can audiences help drive and be a part of that change?

I think the industry is kind of starting to do more inclusive things but it is just thinking about whether
there is more substance in the characters being disabled. This is just because it’s come out recently,
but I would love to see a disabled Scream (film) for example. Then they could reveal at the end he
was disabled and it’s like: ‘oh my god’! I feel like stories are more interesting when they have a
disabled person in them. There are so many good roles with that element of disability – they could be
even better. Not just disabled scream, but imagine disabled superheroes or a disabled teacher you
know lots of substance is added. I know I’m talking mainly about substance but also a lot of comedy.
I’m looking at David (his character) and him being in a wheelchair and being a real-life person with a
disability and that is so important. How audiences can drive that is just by going to see more shows
with disabled characters and kind of finding more disability and accepting that. Disability isn’t quite
as accepted as it should be and that is not okay.

What advice would you give other actors and creatives with disabilities wanting to break into the
industry?

I would say patience is key. I feel like there is a big change coming where we are going to be more
accepting and we are going to not takeover but shine a little bit more. I think my advice is to never
give up. It sounds cliché but never give up on your dreams if that is what you really want to do. If a
part is not out there for you then write it. Write about your experience and what we should be
seeing. I can’t wait for the day we’re not like ‘this is inspirational just because we’re disabled’ I can’t
wait for them to see past the disability and be like this is what we are and how we should be treated.
That’s my dream. The acting or performing industry is hard and it waits for no one so be ruthless and
enjoy it, is all I can say.

ANIMAL runs at the Hope Mill Theatre until April 2 Animal – Hope Mill Theatre

ANIMAL, Tobacco Factory Theatres – Bristol (12 – 15 April) Animal – Tobacco Factory Theatres

ANIMAL, Park Theatre – London (19 April – 20 May) ANIMAL | Projects | Park Theatre