Ella Rides Biography
Ella is the founder and CEO of Now in a Minute Theatre. Over the past five years, she’s been lovingly researching, creating, and playing with sensory drama stories — all to craft theatre that’s truly tailored, welcoming, and meaningful for people with complex needs.
Ella trained in Acting at Rose Bruford College, graduating in 2018. But her path was never just about performance — it was about connection.
Alongside traditional theatre work, she gained experience in education, care, and therapeutic settings. It was here that her approach began to evolve. Rather than asking young people to adapt to theatre, she began designing theatre that adapts to them — accessible, sensory, and rooted in relationships.
For example, instead of simply seeing a woman sitting under an orange tree on a hot day, they will feel the rough bark of the tree bark, taste the citrus fruit, and experience the warmth of the sun on their skin. Ella wanted stories you can taste, touch and tumble into.
So when we are making theatre accessible for people that use sensory language as their primary form of communication, we can share stories with limited script, characters and blocking. Allowing us to get up close and personal with the story instead of letting it whip past us.
“What if we could make a show that travelled more like a magic carpet than a bullet train…? Theatre without a strict track — close enough to touch, free enough to turn back.” - Ella Rides
Ella Rides
Artistic Director FounderStarting positions
Ella started testing her approach during research for her dissertation at drama school and the overlap with conservatoire training to be parallel to how to engage with people with complex needs. Curiosity, openness, fluidity and above all presence made scenes electric and the actors would build a world with the audience with limited structure, words or direction.
Still most theatre is created initially with words and this is where the two approaches started to divert. Words only make good descriptions if both people have the same understanding of them. Instead Now in a Minute shows where a singular sensory experience can become a jumping-off point. From here Ella says “our imagination flows through the story that is already within the sensory activity or experience; waiting to be uncovered. It’s at this point I feel like an archaeologist unearthing potential accessible arts”
Ella has shared her insights and approach more widely, including speaking at the PMLD Conference organised by Joanna Grace, where she highlighted the importance of relational, child-centred practice for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities. A central point she made was the value of the present moment. For Ella, the significance of theatre lies not in reaching a final “performance” but in what happens right now — the spark of shared attention and the joy of play.
In the of Summer 2025, Ella co devised an accessible drama workshop for participants attending the Festival – Parallel Windsor. Laughter without Limits was an interactive workshop focusing on embodying characters from the historical craft of Commedia Dell’arte through sensory experiences and play.
A Practice Rooted in Care
Now in a Minute frames theatre not just as “performance” but as a relational act—a space where connection, presence, and sensory engagement matter more than traditional outcomes. That’s a powerful reframing for audiences who might otherwise see PMLD support as “limiting.” Ella is not just someone who doesn’t just “talks about” inclusion, but embodies it in her work.
Ella has shared her insights and approach more widely, including speaking at the PMLD Conference organised by Joanna Grace, where she highlighted the importance of relational, child-centred practice for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities. A central point she made was the value of the present moment. For Ella, the significance of theatre lies not in reaching a final “performance” but in what happens right now — the spark of shared attention and the joy of play.
In the Summer, Ella co devised an accessible drama workshop for participants attending the Festival – Parallel Windsor. Laughter without Limits was an interactive workshop focusing on embodying characters from the historical craft of Commedia Dell’arte through sensory experiences and play.
What's next?
Next up for Now in a Minute Theatre: more magic, more mess, more meaningful moments. Ella will keep championing the right of people with complex sensory needs to have rich, expressive, joy-filled encounters with theatre. She’s also growing the company’s artist training programme — helping other actors and creatives tap into the power of sensory drama and discover new ways to connect, play, and tell stories that everyone can connect with.
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