The controversial true story of the Atlanta Paralympics, when learning-disabled athletes were welcomed into the Games but later banned, is told through a production that fuses music, film and visual art (Minerva Theatre, Chichester, October 30, 7.30pm).
Gold Run tells how in 1996, the Spanish basketball team fielded non-learning disabled athletes which led to a 12-year ban. The production features The Carousel Singers, a 30-strong choir conducted by James Redwood, whose chorus of singing athletes convey the highs and lows of the story. There are also original film sequences produced by Oska Brighton Film Makers, and a giant sculptural head, designed and created by artist James Lake.
The production premiered at the Glyndebourne Festival in April and was later performed at this year’s Brighton Festival. The Carousel Singers also performed at Brighton and Hove’s Olympic Torch event in July. The work has also featured as a digital installation, Gold Run: Re-Mix, which was exhibited during the Olympics in London.
A spokesman said: “This powerful new production is a collaborative arts project supported by Glyndebourne’s visionary education department and delivered in conjunction with renowned disability arts organisation Carousel and Pallant House Gallery, the home of Modern Art in the South.
“Specially-commissioned films are projected onto screens to illustrate the fast-paced sporting action and artistically. The cast and creative team behind the project include both learning disabled and disabled artists working alongside able bodied and non-learning-disabled individuals.”
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