A theatre company for actors and theatre makers with a learning disability and autism is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Lung Ha is an Edinburgh-based theatre company which produces award-winning productions, supporting a 25-strong Ensemble to develop their practice and remove barriers to participation into the arts.

The celebrations will include the company performing An Unexpected Hiccup this August, its 2021 hit from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Originally created and performed under strict COVID procedures during the global pandemic, the show is a tale of comic misunderstandings, sinister goings on and dangerous eccentricities.

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 research aims to cover three main areas:

1. To understand the access support structures required for learning-disabled actors in a professional company.
2. To apply fair and equitable pay remuneration frameworks for ourselves and other theatre companies working with actors and artists in receipt of varied and complex benefit arrangements.
3. To create a practical toolkit for working with learning-disabled actors which has a wider culture sector benefit and application.

This month the company will also host the World Premiere of its short film, Love Like Salt, at Traverse Theatre – a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, 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, produced and edited by Lung Ha actor Emma McCaffrey.

Lung Ha Theatre Company began its life in October 1984, when a sixty strong team of performers with a learning disability created and performed their first production. Since then, the company has worked with over three hundred performers with a learning disability creating over forty original productions. The company and 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.

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 actor Fern Brodie said:

I see Lung Ha and the other actors as my other family. I feel safe and happy when I spend time with them.

Lung Ha actor Gavin Yule added:

Lung Ha is a place where I can perform and practise acting skills and develop new ones. It’s also where I can make friends and have a social outlet. It also allows me to experience professional theatre and perform incredible pieces of work.

For more information visit www.lungha.com.