Liz Carr

“I’m on a stage in a London theatre.

I love being on stage. I come alive on stage.

I began my performing career in Liverpool, at the Unity Theatre, and I also remember doing shows at a community college... up by the Philharmonic? These events were almost always part of DaDaFest.

I’m wearing an oversized leopard print coat that I wore for my very first performances. I played a working class, disabled bingo caller. I’ve performed at many DaDaFest events over the years.

I wanted my portrait to represent where I’ve come from and where I am now.

I’m on the Olivier stage at the National Theatre, London. In 2021, I played the role of Dr Emma Brookner, a wheelchair-using doctor in the play, The Normal Heart. I was the first Disabled woman to play that role professionally and won a best supporting actress Olivier Award.

Someone looking like me, performing in such a mainstream space, feels like a hugely radical act.

As a Disabled woman who defines herself as an actor and activist, (whether I’m on stage at a community college or a national institution), to perform, be seen and command an audience, always feels like a revolution.”