Artists with learning disabilities deserve critical review: we can all help make that happen

When neurodiverse performance company Spectra took an in-depth look at why theatre critics don’t engage with the work of artists with learning disabilities, it found no less than 11 factors that seem to be getting in the way of honest and rigorous reviewing of this increasingly professional, interesting and artistically driven work.

Theatre critics have never really engaged with the work of artists with learning disabilities, but everyone in the sector – from commissioning editors to diverse companies, and programmers to casting directors – can play a part in doing something about this. It’s time we all got better at valuing and enabling those with a talent for ‘doing things differently’.  

Drawing on over 40 interviews with artists, companies and critics, Spectra’s report, Improving Critical Engagement with Theatre Made by Artists with Learning Disabilities, focuses on questions that have been bubbling away unanswered for over 20 years. But it also complements wider current conversations around diversity in the arts and the uncertain future of arts criticism. And it anticipates the key role artists with learning disabilities can have to play in all this.

Eight actions could make a real difference:

1. Companies need to communicate more

Critics are uncertain and scared of ‘getting it wrong’. In an area where terminology changes rapidly, and an era when social media heightens critics’ feelings of being exposed, they would like clear guidance about what language to use – as well as information about professional training, diverse creative processes, and how artists are being supported to encounter both positive and negative reviews. Infantilising and paternalistic attitudes persist. But critics can be reluctant to offer rigorous critique out of a desire to support rather than deter marginalised artists. We need to stop seeing a review as the end (or, indeed, as the beginning) of the conversation, and understand useful criticism as something ‘done with’ rather than ‘done to’.

2. Casting directors can help…

Artists with learning disabilities battle to be seen as professionals, and their creative agency is also often in question. Sometimes this comes from an informed awareness around potential exploitation. Often it links to deep-rooted misperceptions about their capacity to work as artists. It is still common to see characters with a learning disability and/or autism played by non-disabled or neurotypical actors – meaning opportunities for critics to see these artists working professionally are being missed. Then again, if artists with learning disabilities are only cast in such roles, it plays in to a misconception that they aren’t really acting.

3. … and so can venues and programmers

Many critics operate in an increasingly prescribed and narrow beat. Where a show takes place plays a huge role in whether it gets picked up for review. Venues also have a role to play in how they market work. Several companies speak about having their professional, artistically-driven production programmed within a ‘family day’ (when it is not a family show) or staged in the foyer, and talk of being “shuffled over” to the learning and participation team. How work is packaged and presented impacts whether critics will consider it for review.

4. We all need a history lesson

The fascinating history of learning disability arts has largely gone untold. This is leaving companies without a powerful PR resource, and critics without context, or curiosity. Can we find learning disabled-led ways to fill in this gap? One is already emerging in the form of the new ‘Learning disabled Digital Influencers’ appointed through a partnership between Disability Arts Online and Access All Areas. These include Cian Binchy, one of the actors who contributed to this report.

5. We also need new forms of criticism

Star ratings, tight word counts and 11pm deadlines aren’t conducive to criticism that is nuanced, self-reflective, open about its subjectivity, sensitive to context, and receptive to new forms, aesthetics and voices. Yet companies often collude with star ratings and the privileging of the opinions of a handful of newspaper critics. They would benefit from engaging with, and supporting, platforms that are already cultivating new approaches and diverse voices. Meanwhile, artists with learning disabilities might enrich the critical pool, and drive experiments with critical form.

6. Criticism needs funding

Long-term relationships between companies and critics have a big impact on the quantity and quality of reviews. They are also increasingly rare. While inconsistent funding for the companies reduces their PR capacity, staff critics are being felled and unpaid bloggers struggling to sustain fledgling careers. We must find alternative ways of funding theatre criticism – which could usefully include training for critics around disability arts and the social model of disability.

7. We can look beyond the critics

Companies could be bolder and more creative in imagining and self-determining the sorts of critical conversations they would like to have – and be more open-minded about who they might have them with. Most now invite critical engagement through audience feedback, social media comments, reports and assessments, and responses to ‘scratch’ performances from invited guests. Arts Council England’s new Insight & Impact Toolkit may help companies to identify, engage, capture and further stimulate this proliferation of critical voices.

8. Getting out of the ghetto

The ‘to label or not to label’ dilemma continues for companies working with artists with learning disabilities, as for so many diverse companies. One reason why they may have been reluctant to provide the direct information mentioned in point 1 is fear of being ghettoised – only ever discussed in a disability context. And sadly, they’re right: there is evidence that the ‘learning disability’ label does deter commissioning editors who imagine the work will be worthy and dull. We have a situation in which the words ‘learning disability’ and ‘artistic value’ rarely ever appear in the same sentence. Companies may only feel safe to communicate clearly when the theatre industry, and wider arts press, gets better at inviting and enabling artists with learning disabilities to take their rightful place in much wider theatrical discussions.

Bella Todd is a freelance arts journalist
@bellatodd1
[email protected]