United Kingdom (UK) theater company Mind the Gap envisions an arts sector where there are equal opportunities for performers with learning disabilities*, and where artists with learning disabilities are recognized as leaders in their fields. Mind the Gap’s new leadership program, called Staging Change, aims to increase the visibility of artists with learning disabilities in the wider arts community and offer them skills development and advocacy opportunities.

Staging Change is based around three-way partnerships between Mind the Gap (MTG), six arts venues across the UK, and artists with learning disabilities. According to MTG Associate Producer Deborah Dickinson, the program has five objectives: to grow talent among artists with learning disabilities (LD); to increase participation in LD-led arts; to increase representation of LD people in high quality work; to nurture new leaders to advance LD-led work; and to accumulate better evidence to support the value and impact of LD-led arts practice. They plan to accomplish these goals through three strands of the project: active partnerships with their six venue partners; training and leadership development for artists with LD; and collaboration and knowledge exchange events that bring venues and artists with LD together.

When asked about the impetus for Staging Change, Dickinson says the program offers a collaborative solution to build confidence, value, and investment in LD-led work so that it is integrated into mainstream programs alongside other diverse arts practice. She adds, “In a highly competitive environment for arts investment, it is vital that LD arts achieve high quality standards so as not to risk further marginalization. Equally, venues need to find positive ways to integrate LD access into everyday practice rather than relying on ‘special’ or ad hoc initiatives.”

Staging Change has already produced positive outcomes for both the participating organizations and artists. Leeds Playhouse, one of the partner venues, changed its casting processes to be more open and accessible for actors with LD and cast Anna Gray, an MTG ensemble member and actress with Down’s Syndrome, in the play Be My Baby. Gray says, “I was a bit nervous to start with but settled into the role. It was different and new and everyone was very kind; some of the cast helped me with my lines and I really liked the music.“ Other partner venues have programmed work featuring artists with LD, invited performers with LD to participate in Artist’s Lab events, and one venue took on an apprentice with autism for a year.

There have also been improvements in arts administration practices, with all partner venues now holding regular access meetings. MTG artists have represented the company at conferences and symposiums across the UK, and they did a “take-over” at partner venue Square Chapel Centre for the Arts by working in the box office, front of house, and café in July 2019. Dickinson says more take-overs are planned at the other partner venues.

MTG will continue to work with the six partner venues on Staging Change until the project finishes in autumn 2020. But Dickinson says the long-term sustainability of this program lies in stimulating real and lasting change in those who are gatekeepers to access and participation opportunities. MTG’s Executive Director Julia Skelton says, “Our informal motto at MTG is to ‘do ourselves out of a job.’ Our vision is to see an arts sector where organizations’ general practice is accessible to people with LD without the need for ‘specialist’ programs or interventions. Staging Change is designed to make a tangible step towards MTG realizing its mission of creating genuinely equal opportunity for people with LDs.”

To learn more about Mind the Gap and the Staging Change program, visit their website at http://www.mind-the-gap.org.uk/, or follow them on Twitter or Facebook @MtGStudios. 

*Note: the UK Department of Health defines learning disability as a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information or to learn new skills; a reduced ability to cope independently; an impairment that started before adulthood, with a lasting effect on development.