Robert Gale is an actor with experience in theatre, radio and television. He also works in equalities, having been Equalities Officer for the Scottish Arts Council (now Creative Scotland). Robert currently co-directs Flip! – Disability Equality in the Arts, a disability consultancy service and equalities training provider.
How did you get into acting? What are your earliest memories of the theatre?
My family were always in to amateur drama – I grew up watching my mum in pantomimes and helping her rehearse for the next production. I was active in the same group – working backstage, painting sets, operating then later designing the lighting and sound for productions –and, lastly, directing plays for the under-18s in the club. But I was never on stage – as someone with an ‘obvious’ disability, it just didn’t seem right for me to think of becoming an actor.
Then I went to Glasgow University where I studied theatre alongside my main subject. It was an academic perspective but I at least got to try stuff out in class. Going in to my third year I was approached by a professional company that was looking for a disabled actor to join their resident company for one year. I auditioned, having almost no previous experience, and got in.
Many arty types are near computer-illiterate, but your history seems to point to technical prowess from a very early age. Do your computing and theatre hats clash or complement one another?
Hehe – I was always a tech-head from a young age – needed to be as I couldn’t write very well so it became my best way to communicate. I would definitely say these two hats compliment each other: as a techie I’m in an area where my type is in short supply, so if I want to earn a bit of money developing websites or whatnot for a while, then I can. Equally, as an arty type, I find it useful to look at situations from a different perspective: I can have an emotional response to something and also analyse it from a very technical viewpoint.
I also think the two areas aren’t as distinct as they appear to be.
When you were younger, did you feel put off going for acting roles because of your disability? To what extent were the barriers to acting put up by others or by yourself?
When I was younger there were no acting roles – my first job was when I was 22 and that was also my first paid gig. But since then the vast majority of the work I’ve done has come my way because of my disability: companies come looking for a disabled actor and then, because it is a pretty small pond in the UK, they invariably find me.
I once went for a role that wasn’t specifically looking for a disabled actor – I didn’t get it. I reckon, even now, it’s a lot to ask a casting director to have an image in their head of a non-disabled character and then cast a wheelchair user who has slurred speech and wobbles. But things are moving forward!
What was your first professional acting job?
I was playing a lefty, hippie tree-hugger in a piece about the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001 where a protester was shot and killed by the police. I also helped devise and co-write the piece, so it was definitely a case of being thrown in head first.
I had no real knowledge of this kind of political activism before doing the show but a lot of what I’ve done since has been political in nature. In some ways, every time a disabled person goes on to a stage a political act is taking place.
Who / what has helped you most in pursuing your acting career?
A huge variety of people have been really important in helping me move forward. I guess the skill of networking and knowing as many people as possible has been perhaps the most important thing to get me this far.
Do you think there are now good opportunities for aspiring disabled actors across Scotland, and what still needs to improve?
I think there are some opportunities for disabled artists but there are very few for disabled actors. I draw this difference because an actor is, in some ways, a blank canvas that can play as wide a variety of roles as possible. Mainstream audiences still, on the whole, see a disabled person on stage rather than an actor – they are maturing their views on this but there’s still a way to go.
An artist – performance artist or whatever – is someone who has something to say to the world. Disabled people, on the whole, have a different lived experience to non-disabled people and therefore we have interesting observations to make and interesting things to say. In this way, I think the opportunities for disabled artists have improved greatly.
You can learn more about Robert at his website: www.softley.co.uk
For news on disability and equality and for equality training services visit: Flip!
