Gav Week! All this week, Gavin Stride will be answering our questions on why learning disabled artists and companies struggle for ‘airtime’.

Whilst physically disabled actors and dancers have enjoyed a greater profile in recent years, art created by and with learning disabled artists still struggle for recognition.

We thought it would be interesting to hear from a ‘mainstream’ theatre specialist about why that might be. So, we spoke to leading theatre maker, Gavin Stride, the Director of Farnham Maltings, HOUSE, and caravan, to get his thoughts on that sticky issue. Each day this week we’ll be posting Gav’s answer to one of our questions on what makes art good, and why arts venues aren’t always the best place to see art. Let us know what you think of what Gavin has to say…

Creative Minds: Gavin, you’ve been working as a theatre maker for 25 years. Have you noticed changes in the amount and quality of learning disabled theatre practice taking place during that time?

Gavin: Companies like Back to back in Australia, and Mind the Gap in the UK have transformed the way we think about the best learning disabled theatre being made but actually I don’t think there has been as radical a shift in the amount of work as we might have hoped. Especially compared with, say, sport which has used the Olympics and Paralympics as a way of reminding us all what a more inclusive approach can look like.