Disabled actor says Olivier win signals progress
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Amy Trigg won best actress in a supporting role in a musical for the part she played in The Little Big Things in the West End
By Shivani Chaudhari and Lois Worrow
BBC News, Essex
A disabled actor who won a Laurence Olivier award said she “never thought this would happen” because of accessibility in the industry.
Amy Trigg, 32, from Witham, Essex, received the award for best actress for her supporting role in the musical The Little Big Things on the West End.
She added that in the past people had been “against casting disabled actors”.
The actor has become the second wheelchair user to win an Olivier award, after Liz Carr in 2022.
Ms Trigg accepted the award at the ceremony in London on Sunday .
The awards were presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of excellence in professional theatre in London.
She said: “I never thought this would happen and I am absolutely thrilled.
“I have always loved theatre from when I was really little, and was always nurtured by my family.”
Image source, Pamela Raith Photography
Image caption, Amy Trigg played Henry Fraser’s physiotherapist, Agnes, in The Little Big Things
Ms Trigg went to drama school and trained in musical theatre for three years at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in south London, graduating in 2013.
She said: “After that, I let musical theatre take a backseat because there weren’t that many opportunities with regards to access – it didn’t really exist when I graduated.
“People were quite against casting disabled actors in any role for some reason.”
“But it has changed so much since then.”
‘Proud’
The actor admitted she had not prepared an acceptance speech before she won the award.
She said: “The category that I was in was such a strong category, I was so proud to be there along side the others.”
She added: “I was trying to elevate the pressure in any way possible so I hadn’t prepared a speech – what a fool.”
The Little Big Things by Henry Fraser is based on the writer’s memoir of the same name, which recounts how he became a mouth artist after becoming paralysed from the shoulders down following an accident while on holiday in Portugal aged 17.
“It is an inspirational story and it is so much fun and I love it a lot,” Ms Trigg said.
Image source, Gett Images
Image caption, Amy Trigg has become the second wheelchair user to ever win an Olivier Award, after Liz Carr in 2022
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