Far from your typical puppet show, Meet Fred is the sharp, irreverent brainchild of award-winning inclusive Welsh theatre company Hijinx and puppetry specialists Blind Summit.
At just two feet tall, Fred is a cloth puppet with a big personality. He drinks, swears, fumbles through awkward dates and navigates the grinding realities of job centre appointments. Like so many, he’s simply trying to find his place in the world. But when his Puppetry Living Allowance comes under threat, his carefully constructed life begins to fall apart.
Fred’s story is a pointed, political metaphor for the very real obstacles faced by disabled people every day. At a time of shrinking budgets and unresolved debates around inclusion and independence, Meet Fred stands as a vital piece of theatre and a timely reminder that the struggle for disability rights is far from finished.
Since its debut in 2016, the show has built a huge international footprint, touring to more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia and North America. At its heart is a cast of performers with and without learning disabilities and/or autism, whose lived experiences lend Fred’s journey depth and authenticity.
Director Ben Pettitt-Wade said, “We could not have dreamed when we created Meet Fred back in 2016 that it would have taken us across the world, on so many adventures. At the time of making the show many of the artists we made the show with were facing cuts to their disability benefits, an experience which they brought into the room and ultimately became reflected in the struggle we see faced by Fred. With the threat of cuts to disability benefits again hanging in the balance, Meet Fred is a call to arms for anyone who has fought, and is fighting, against a system not designed for them, as vital now as it ever was.”
Meet Fred is at the Shrewsbury Theatre Severn on 2-3 June. For more go to https://www.hijinx.org.uk/
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