Cornwall to premiere the first ever 'fully inclusive' signed children's theatre show

• Watch Charlotte Gay's report as she went behind the scenes with the crew.

A brand new inclusive theatre show for children who communicate using Makaton sign is about to go on tour across Cornwall.

The Arthurs Club Live is the first signed and fully accessible theatre performance for children.

Aimed at children aged 3-9, their grownups, and Makaton users, the show promises to take audiences on an adventure of imagination.

The stories have been developed by a team of award-winning children's books and tv show writers and will be performed in libraries and theatre spaces across Cornwall.

It is the brainchild of Rebecca Hulbert; an actress and a trained Makaton tutor. She was inspired to create the world of Arthur's Club after learning the key-signed language to better communicate with her son Arthur.

She says signing is "only as good as everyone that speaks it".

"That's what's really important and really exciting about this show, is that everyone can come and they will go away having learnt some sign and raising the profile of inclusion."

On the stage, it's a one-woman show but behind the scenes, there's a team of 25 people including speech-language therapists. Rebecca says having signing "Integrated at its heart" means the key-signed language is not an afterthought.

"So we've taken out similes and any complex language structure. Looking at our signs, we built them into the story. So say there was a word that there wasn't a sign for. We worked with the writer on the compromise without compromising the creativity."

Award-winning children’s storybook authors have written original stories for the Arthur's Club including James Henry (Hey Duggee, CBBC), Rebecca Cobb, (Missing Mummy, Aunt Amelia), Anna Wilson, (The Wide, Wide Sea), Naomi Jones, (The Perfect Fit), Anna Mansell (The Tempest, Trebah Gardens), and Craig Barr-Green, (Christmas in Cornwall).

Matthew Thomason has worked as the composer for Arthur's Club Live and says while it's important they get the delivery right for the audience, "it's also funny for parents" too.

"We want parents to feel like they can get some out of it as well. So they're not kind of begrudgingly thinking you know I've got to go take them to a theatre show. We want them to come out thinking, I've really enjoyed that. I want to go again."

The production has had funding from the Arts Council and Cornwall Libraries. The show is being performed for families for free in libraries in Truro, Penzance and Callington but nearly all the tickets have now been allocated.

The show is touring at bigger venues across Cornwall including the Minack Theatre, Trebah Gardens and Stert Theatre.