April 2024 sees the 40th anniversary of Lung Ha, an Edinburgh-based theatre company for actors and theatre makers with a learning disability and autism. It will be the start of 12 months of the Company’s celebrations where they will either take part in or present: The 25-strong Ensemble produces award-winning productions and works with a year-round programme to develop practice and remove barriers to participation into the arts.
In May, Lung Ha Theatre Company will host the World Premiere of its short film, Love Like Salt, a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, at the Traverse Theatre, featuring the Lung Ha Ensemble and co-created by Maria Oller, Susan Worsfold and Stuart Platt. The evening will also feature a short snippet from an anniversary documentary about the Company, made and edited by a Lung Ha actor, Emma McCaffrey.
August sees a remounting of the Company’s 2021 hit An Unexpected Hiccup at the Edinburgh Festival. Originally created and performed under strict COVID procedures during the pandemic, the show is a tale of comic misunderstandings, sinister goings on and dangerous eccentricities. An Unexpected Hiccup is a co-production with Plutôt La Vie featuring five Lung Ha actors, written by Michael Duke after a devising process with the Company. It will be presented between 2nd and 10th August at Zoo Southside.
Artistic Director Maria Oller and Executive Director Ruth McEwan said “Entering our 40th year, we are so proud of our achievements and what has come before now. We have shared incredible moments with everyone we work with and our audiences far and wide. From here, we are passionate about continuing to create fabulous theatrical experiences and breaking down barriers in our sector and beyond. Our actors are the inspiration and the beating heart of Lung Ha Theatre Company.”
Lung Ha has also been invited as a guest contributor at the Europe In Action Conference, a partnership between Inclusion Europe and Enable in May 2024 in Glasgow during Learning Disability Awareness Week, hosted by Enable who are also marking their 70th anniversary year. The Company will be hosting the closing session of the conference with the theme of deinstitutionalisation, including a presentation about the Company’s work and a focus on the award-winning production Castle Lennox from 2023.
Since its inception in 1984, the Company’s achievements include the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) for Best Ensemble in Huxley’s Lab in 2009 (co-recipient with Grid Iron Theatre Company) and for Castle Lennox, a 2023 co-production with The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.
The Company has worked with over three hundred performers with a learning disability creating over forty original productions. The Company has also worked with some of the leading artists and creative organisations across the country and toured internationally to England, France, Ireland, Poland, Sweden and Finland.
The Company is also commissioning initial research to develop an Access and Creative Principles Toolkit which will support the launch of Lung Ha Touring Company. The first publication of findings is expected in Spring 2025 and the project is funded by RS Macdonald Charitable Trust.
This will also be the inaugural production of the Lung Ha Touring Company which will provide further opportunities for performers to create and tour new and existing work, with bespoke and specialist actor training.
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 