Letters – Obsolete labels

From Suzi Clark-Britton, Head of Marketing and Development, Chicken Shed Theatre Company

Your feature on Disability and Participation (ArtsProfessional issue 59, October 6) raised a number of important issues.

The concept of learning to “ignore the label” and respond, instead, to the creativity of the individual, is to be welcomed and encouraged across the sector. In the words of our co-founder and artistic director, Mary Ward MBE, “At Chicken Shed, we have no labels. Everyone’s talents and also everyone’s struggles are what make our creative process so exciting.” When more arts organisations make the move to embrace ‘inclusive’ theatre philosophy and practice, there’ll be no more need for labels that categorise human beings rather than the art itself – not ‘mainstream’, not ‘disability’ and not even ‘inclusive’ – because inclusion will be the norm.