Cross-disciplinary creative Jamie Hale is a poet and playwright among a host of ventures from acting to activism. They’ve published poetry pamphlets, are developing a screenplay with Channel 4 and founded CRIPtic Arts, a disability arts hub offering support, growth, and opportunities for deaf and disabled creatives in the UK.
This year they take their show Quality of Life is Not a Measurable Outcome, which dismantles disability preconceptions by drawing from Hale’s own experience, to Glastonbury Festival’s Poetry&Words tent.
We caught up with Hale to find out more.
Q&A with Jamie Hale
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a disabled creative and theatremaker, and Artistic Director at CRIPtic Arts. Creatively, I’m interested in themes of agency, urgency and autonomy – and in making work that dismantles disability preconceptions, including my Glastonbury show Quality of Life is Not a Measurable Outcome. I’m also developing an upcoming radical adaption of Romeo and Juliet.
How did you get into live performance?
I started as a nervous poet reading out their work – and with support from Barbican OpenLab, translated that into the first version of the show I am now bringing to Glastonbury. Performing wasn’t something I’d ever imagined myself doing – but I love it!
What’s it like to be performing at this year’s Glastonbury Festival?
As a wheelchair user dependent on electricity and medical equipment, I never thought attending a festival would be possible – let alone performing! Being on the Glastonbury line-up is a dream I’d never dared to have, and I’m ready to give it everything.
What can you tell us about your plans for the shows?
I’m bringing Quality of Life is Not a Measurable Outcome back to its roots as a poetry piece tracing the contours of survival and existence. With threads including suicide, sex, and state violence, it is centred around the question of “what happens next, when the state decides it costs too much to keep you alive?”
How do you approach performing at a festival like this?
I’ve stripped the show back to its core – just words, and sound, to fit the festival setting. After that, it’s just rehearsing my lines, pacing, and trying not to be too nervous!
Will you be checking out any other acts across the weekend?
I’m excited for sets like Alannis Morrisette, the Libertines, and Neil Young – but I also just want to soak it all in and experience the festival. I am also super excited to finally catch work by Head Over Wheels.
