Jess Mabel Jones

performer

writer

director

multi-disiplinary artist

access coordinator

Jess Mabel Jones in an empowered stance looks to the left of frame. A white woman in her 30s with dark curly hair tied up in a bun. Wearing acid wash jeans and a black leather jacket. In the background a rocky outcrop and the sea.

Biography

I’m Jess.

I’ve been making multi award-winning art for over 15 years. It’s taken place in theatres, in communities, on screen, in cabaret bars, on the street and at festivals, all over the world.

The majority of my time has been in disability arts; the rad scene of work made by Deaf, disabled, learning disabled, neurodivergent and autistic artists and contributors.

Since 2022, I’ve also been an Access Coordinator for HETV and film.

I’m Autistic and I have ADHD, was born and grown in Croydon and now live by the sea.

Jess dressed as a giant vulva in a pink bob wig stand flat against a brick wall, like she's hiding.

My work has played venues and platforms that include, Barbican, TATE, Southbank Centre, WOW, Wellcome Collection, Soho Theatre, Machynlleth Comedy Festival, Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, Huangpu Theatre Shanghai and Sydney Opera House.

In TV & film my credits include Ralph & Katie, Screw, Glow Up, Blue Peter, Black Cake, All Creatures Great And Small, The Last Leg, Cleaner and Jackdaw.

Awards for High End TV

Ralph & Katie

Royal Television Society North West, Best Inclusive Practice

Royal Television Society Craft, Special Award

Scope, Inclusive Workplace

Scope, Media Moment

Jess Mabel Jones in a pink silk dress and Iain Gibbons lean in for a kiss with their mouths enormously wide open. They wear silky 18 century costumes and big curly wigs.

I make work that is good fun, good-looking and that strives to incite change.

Growing from a place of inclusivity, joy and honesty, my work is eclectic, visually dynamic, often autobiographical and always a bit of a party.

I believe art should be intersectional, intergenerational and accessible!

Two performers fold away a massive sheet hanging from the ceiling of a theatre. A huge white ghost is painted on it- we see its black dot eyes and mouth.

With Anna-Maria Nabirye, I run Motherhoody, a creative investigation of motherhood and women’s health.

Our film Gestational Diabetes: One Prick at a Time, won the 2023 ARC award for Communicating Research to Audiences, with special acknowledgement for the film’s embedded accessibility.

For Motherhoody, a series of public workshops, we created a barrier-free space with a creche, lunch and financial support to cover travel costs. Participants shared and a zine was made of their stories.

Where’s My Vagina? is a inclusive, intergenerational, intersectional feminist collective. Led with Graeae’s Jenny Sealey MBE and playwright Chloe Todd-Fordham they have created two happenings for WOW Festival.

Vagina Launch reimagined the Universal Declaration of Human Rights calling for and celebrating women's rights in a new Declaration of the Vagina. The piece featured integrated audio description, BSL and creative captioning.

The Unviable Cabaret film brought together leading Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent women, trans and non-binary artists to unpack the impact of the word ‘Unviable’ in their own indomitable activist artistic style.

Jess Mabel Jones throws off a gold cape while singing into a mic. The stage is bathed in golden light. In the foreground is a post lined with fairground lightbulbs.

Awards for theatre

Backstage in Biscuit Land

Total Theatre Award Emerging Artists 2014

OneOfUs Loving cup 2014

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Best of Edinburgh Award 2010

WhatsOnStage Editor’s Award 2010

With Touretteshero, I created Backstage in Biscuit Land, a myth-busting comedy show about Tourettes syndrome.

The show fundamentally changed the theatre landscape, particularly in regards to Relaxed Performances.

Many major theatres including Barbican and Sydney Opera House, and countries, including Bosnia, held their first Relaxed performances with our show. Battersea Arts Centre became an entirely Relaxed venue.

Jess Mabel Jones smiles broadly, cupping her hands under her chin, like butter couldn't melt. Jess Thom AKA Touretteshero in her bright blue superhero costume motions to bite Jess.

In 2015, we made a live special for BBC4 and and were the final ever broadcast from the iconic, original Television Centre.

The Anti Charity Shop

Is a catalogue of Deaf, disabled, learning disabled, autistic, neurodivergent and chronically ill makers.

The idea began as a thread on X in 2019 because I wanted to directly support disabled-led businesses and make it easy for others to do so too.

To shop, click on the business that interests you to be linked to the maker’s own site.

Logo. An illustration of an old-school 'dogs for the blind' collection boxes that used to sit outside charity shops. The purple-patched spaniel wears a collection box around its neck. Over it is a banner that reads, 'The Anti Charity Shop'.