Accidental Radical
(in development)

In an interrogation room in 1970s East Berlin, a series of secrets unravels about ordinary people caught in extraordinary historical moments involving spies, escapes and medical mysteries. These are the accidental radicals whose true stories history has overlooked or... covered up.

This multilingual spy-thriller uses embedded access to examine how political and medical systems shape our bodies and our narratives. Artist-turned-radical Andi Snelling goes undercover to investigate the danger and bravery of her interviewees, only to discover her own medical history at the centre of the web.

In this coded underground world, no two audience members receive the same story. Braille clues, live-captioned “whispering” walls, Auslan-animated portraits, and audio-description headsets with bonus intel invite audience complicity and interrogate how truth—and access—are constructed.

Blending physical theatre, song, verbatim text, improvisation, and audience interaction, this theatrical exposé transforms the performance space into an active participant. Though a solo show, Accidental Radical features an ensemble of “access spies” whose roles are integral, creating a performance that cannot exist without its access components.

Accidental Radical meets this moment in history when we urgently need new ways of seeing, sensing, and questioning the world around us. As a pioneering work in creatively embedded access, it pushes beyond tokenistic inclusion to make access a dramatic engine—something rarely seen on Australian stages. In doing so, it not only expands who can participate in theatre, but also reimagines how stories can be told, shared, and uncovered, creating a new, out-of-the-box art form.

We are in a time in which many of us have become estranged from our own bodily autonomy and ability to discern truth. We outsource our authority to institutions, systems, and experts, often without interrogating whose interests they serve. By exploring medico-political power through the lens of hidden histories, the work invites audiences to reclaim a sense of agency, listening, and embodied knowing, cultivating a sense of collective hope so needed in the world.

This is a daring, high-stakes project—ambitious in scale, form, and thematic layers. It takes artistic risks and gets personal.

Funding history: Creative Victoria (2020) supported the initial research; Adelaide Fringe Fund (2021) covered access mentorship; Arts SA (2021) funded further research, interviews, script drafting, and a development showing at The Mill, Adelaide.

In 2026, the project enters its next phase: advancing the script to a production-ready stage through the La Mama IMMERSE Playwriting Program and Arts Centre Melbourne’s New Writers Collective.

2021 Creative Development Team:
Written, Directed and Performed by Andi Snelling
Access Mentors - Jamila Main, Martin Sawtell and Tom Middleditch & Jacinta Anderson (A_tistic Theatre)
Artistic Mentor - Emma Beech
Access Ensemble - Gerry Shearim (live Auslan), Caroline Conlon (pre-recorded Auslan), Emma Bedford (audio description), Jamila Main (captioning)

Andi would like to acknowledge the support of The Mill, Goodwood Theatre and Britt Plummer.
This development was generously funded by Arts SA and Adelaide Fringe. Thank you.

Accidental Radical Development Showing at The Mill, Adelaide, December 2021.
(Photography by Jamois)