Act Up! Newham is an inclusive theatre company made up of disabled and non-disabled people who work together to create high quality performances that challenge audiences' perceptions of disability. Act Up! produces work that reflects the lived experiences, stories and views of our members and most of our productions have been devised by our members. Act Up! aims to become a beacon for good inclusive practice and demonstrate to other groups how to develop good inclusive theatre.

 

Act Up! aims to provide opportunities for actors who are overlooked by other theatre companies to have main roles in high quality performances and by doing so proves to others that this is possible. This includes people with communication difficulties whom people often assume cannot have significant lines in performances. We work together in innovative ways to adapt our work so that all our actors are able to express themselves in an equal way. We use these differences in communication to enhance our productions. We have actors with different levels of support needs including actors with high support needs who have found that they are not always welcome in other integrated settings.