Julie McNamara is an award winning playwright and theatre maker. Her work investigates the extraordinary stories of voices hidden in the margins of our communities. Artistic Director of Vital Xposure, her work is renowned for its’ strong narratives and bold visual aesthetic that places access at the heart of the story. Recent work has included the internationally acclaimed: ‘Let Me Stay’, a unique story of living well with dementia and a love letter to the artist’s mother. An activist in Disability Arts and vociferous spokeswoman for mental health system survivors, she describes herself as ‘A Mad Woman made good’. Visit Vitalxposure

In this short interview, Julie McNamara talks about her love of museums, the collections-based and personal stories that helped to shape ‘Hold the Hearse!’ and the objects that inspired her. She explores the wider social issues at the heart of E&E, including austerity and government cuts to disabled people’s benefits, and how she would like audiences to leave her performance feeling surprised, challenged and filled with questions.

Photo Credit: Christian Sinibaldi