Behind the scenes at Bradford's Mind the Gap, one of Europe’s leading learning disabled theatre companies

It must be at least a couple of weeks since I used reminded us all that a Yorkshire city is aiming to become the UK’s City of Culture – a campaign all Yorkshire folk should support.

When Bradford becomes the City of Culture in 2025 (there’s no point in not being boldly optimistic, right?) it will be thanks to a brilliantly varied collection of different types of arts organisations which call the city home, another of which I visit today.

During my lockdown virtual theatre tour I’ve visited the avant garde Theatre in the Mill on the University of Bradford’s campus, Kala Sangam in the city centre and Freedom Studios, the company which grew out of Asian Theatre School.

Today I finally get around to a true jewel in the city’s crown. Ironically, given its proud Yorkshire roots, the Bradford company I visit today has a name that evokes the transportation most associated with the UK’s capital: Mind the Gap.

“We are one of Europe’s leading learning disabled theatre companies – we make work with learning disabled creatives and put their stories at the heart of everything we do,” says Julia Skelton, the company’s executive director.

Skelton joined Mind the Gap over two decades ago from Harrogate Theatre, where she was marketing manager. It was a brave move to leave the leafy, some might say mono-cultural, town for one whose problems people are quick to list. It was a move that proved significant to both Skelton and the company she has since helped to lead ever since.

Established in 1989 by Tim Wheeler and Susan Brown, MtG has toured acclaimed productions around the world to annual audiences of over 15,000 – although that number increased significantly last year thanks to a major outdoor event, more of which later.

While the company has an impressive artistic programme, it also runs an academy which provides training and talent development opportunities for people with learning disabilities who aspire to engage with the arts.

The focus on different aspects of the industry – from making productions to training artists – gives MtG a vital energy and drive behind its work. “It’s very much a team effort at Mind the Gap. We all work to our vision which is to work in an arts sector where there is equal opportunity for performers and artists with learning disabilities. We want to see a world where learning disabled performers and creatives are trained, respected, employed equally, and feature every day on our stages and screens.”

Obvious though that may seem to some, we are a long way from true equality. It is the likes of the good folk behind Mind the Gap that are helping to lead that walk towards equality. It is a spirit that informs every part of the company. “Mind the Gap is Bradford born and bred and proud of that, but the city has some of the lowest levels of cultural engagement in the UK. We play a vital role in its arts infrastructure, collaborating with other arts organisations to enable communities and individuals in the district to develop and express their creativity,” says Skelton.

Last year the company expressed a whole heap of creativity when it brought to life the project hinted at above. Zara was a giant outdoor production created alongside outdoor event specialists Walk the Plank, which featured a ‘baby’ the size of a double decker bus and opened at the stunning Piece Hall in Halifax. It was performed to an audience of several thousand over the weekend it took up residence in the beautiful Halifax public arena.

“The heart of the story was about learning disabled parenthood – we brought the discussion to people who had never considered it and that was the point,” says Skelton.

It’s work like this that is vital to the conversation around arts, theatre and culture right now.

“We not only produce work and tour nationally and internationally, we aim to raise aspirations, challenge low expectations, and leave a legacy of participation, advocacy, and leadership for learning disabled audiences, artists and participants,” says Skelton.

“Mind the Gap is part of an extraordinary and inter-related theatre ecosystem and it’s difficult to picture what the future will look like when there is still so much uncertainty, particularly around returning to safe live performance work. The arts and cultural sector face enormous challenges as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, but we are a robust and innovative company, and we’re already demonstrating considerable success in finding new ways to deliver our work.

“Our remote Academy has been tremendously successful this year. We are acutely aware that we work with a community that faces extra vulnerabilities including continued risk to physical health and social isolation. We are already seeing cases where people with learning disabilities are facing cuts to benefits/personal budgets which are essential for their security and wellbeing and expect this to worsen.

“It is essential that access and inclusion remain at the top of the agenda when this crisis is over – we are working hard not to lose the hard-won gains of the last 20 years. Mind the Gap has found new platforms, new methods of distribution, new ways of engaging with audiences and will emerge with stronger digital skills, resilience, and creative connectivity. We now need to rethink and reimagine what theatre can be, refreshing our creative thinking and approaches.”

During the past few months of lockdown Mind the Gap has screened their previous shows online and they have continued to make work from home. The company has also continued its Academy for people with learning disabilities by moving all their courses online, with daily Zoom sessions and a new programme of home-based activity. Students even created and presented an online Digital Showcase of work in June, which has now been viewed over 700 times.

For more information about the company and to view their work, visit www.mind-the-gap.org.uk

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Thank you

James Mitchinson