To gain greater prominence, it's important that learning disabled theatre can benefit from proper evaluation, critical self-awareness and outside input, just like the rest of the creative arts, argues Lyn Gardner.
Would you buy a ticket to see a production created by a learning disabled theatre company? If you run a theatre or festival do you regularly programme learning disabled work? Anyone who has seen the work of the Australian company Back to Back will know that they don't just produce superb disability-led theatre, they produce superb theatre in every way.
Their show Small Metal Objects would be high on a list of my all-time favourite pieces. The London international festival of theatre and the Edinburgh international festival have both hosted their show Ganesh Versus the Third Reich, a piece that challenges not just the performers but the audience too.
Of course, the fact that they are invited to tour around the world and are paid to do so and that their work gets widespread critical feedback helps validate what they produce, and pushes that work onwards. If you can't get your work seen, and if theatres and venues are reluctant to programme it because they don't think that they will get an audience for it, it's unlikely that the shows produced will develop and grow. Keep reading on The Guardian
Would you buy a ticket to see a production created by a learning disabled theatre company? If you run a theatre or festival do you regularly programme learning disabled work? Anyone who has seen the work of the Australian company Back to Back will know that they don't just produce superb disability-led theatre, they produce superb theatre in every way.
Their show Small Metal Objects would be high on a list of my all-time favourite pieces. The London international festival of theatre and the Edinburgh international festival have both hosted their show Ganesh Versus the Third Reich, a piece that challenges not just the performers but the audience too.
Of course, the fact that they are invited to tour around the world and are paid to do so and that their work gets widespread critical feedback helps validate what they produce, and pushes that work onwards. If you can't get your work seen, and if theatres and venues are reluctant to programme it because they don't think that they will get an audience for it, it's unlikely that the shows produced will develop and grow. Keep reading on The Guardian