Robert Softley Gale

Robert is an Artistic Director of Birds of Paradise Theatre Company (BOP), Scotland’s touring company that promotes the work of artists with disabilities in partnership with non-disabled artists and mainstream theatre venues and companies. His first production for the company – ‘Wendy Hoose’ – is a critically acclaimed sex comedy which toured internationally in 2016.

For BOP Robert has also created ‘Purposeless Movements’, a dance theatre piece for which he was nominated for a CATS Best Director award, and he wrote and performed in ‘Blanche & Butch’, a camp musical comedy about disabled drag queens. He recently directed and wrote ‘My Left / Right Foot – The Musical’ which won a Fringe First and Herald Angel at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe and which recently toured to Japan.

Robert Softley Gale is an established figure in the Scottish arts scene, with over eighteen years of experience in diverse and varied roles – including disability rights activist, actor and performer, writer, artistic director and supporter and advocate of equality of access to the arts for people with disabilities whether as artists or audiences.

Robert’s professional acting debut was in 2002 and since then he has appeared in many productions as well as developing his own artistic practice – including instigating, co-writing and performing in ‘Girl X’ for the National Theatre of Scotland, directed by Pol Heyvaert of Belgium’s Campo. His award-winning writing debut and solo performance – ‘If These Spasms Could Speak’ – was a hit of the 2013 Made in Scotland programme and has subsequently toured internationally to countries including Brazil, Estonia, Ireland and India.

A graduate of Glasgow University with an MSc (Hons) in Business & Management, Robert is an Artistic Director of Birds of Paradise Theatre Company (BOP), Scotland’s touring company that promotes the work of artists with disabilities in partnership with non-disabled artists and mainstream theatre venues and companies. His first production for the company – ‘Wendy Hoose’ – is a critically acclaimed sex comedy which toured internationally in 2016.

For BOP Robert has also created ‘Purposeless Movements’, a dance theatre piece for which he was nominated for a CATS Best Director award, and he wrote and performed in ‘Blanche & Butch’, a camp musical comedy about drag queens with disabilities. He recently directed and wrote ‘My Left / Right Foot – The Musical’ which won a Fringe First and Herald Angel at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe and which recently toured to Japan.

Robert has delivered equalities training on an international level and carries out organisational development programmes across the UK. Robert also sits on the board of the National Theatre of Scotland.

At the core of Robert’s working practice is a belief that by creating key partnerships, we can develop an arts sector in Scotland that is inclusive of people with disabilities and that reflects the society in which we live.