What do we do?

We offer opportunities for people to take part in a variety of art forms, to learn new skills and to develop their creative talent

  • Art: We create opportunities for artists to collaborate and to create and share their work live, recorded, digitally, and on-line
  • Taking Part: We run high quality creative arts activities for people with learning disabilities
  • Training: We support people with learning disabilities in the workplace
  • Sharing: We share our art and what we do with as many people as possible

Background and Objectives

Stage Beyond is an award winning Theatre Company for young adults with learning disabilities based in the North West and owned and controlled by people with learning disabilities. The organisation was founded in 2002 and was primarily formed to address the lack of arts provision for those with learning disabilities.

Young people with learning disabilities have limited access to high quality theatre-in-education training. We are the first company of its kind to offer professional training in a wide variety of arts disciplines. We provide innovative, relevant and participant-led workshops, reflecting the needs and concerns of all who take part. The company’s main focus is professional arts training, delivered by leading artists in Northern Ireland. We provide performance and community-based workshops, giving a voice to the learning disabled community. Stage Beyond provides a platform for that voice to be heard locally, nationally and intenationally. Laying secure foundations for young people with learning disabilities to participate fully in an arts context, we help them shape their own cultural environment.

Stage Beyond portrays sensitive work about issues such as relationships, sexuality, coming of age and independence. We also offer our members the opportunity to benefit from sustained training in a wide range of theatre disciplines, as well as offering audiences the chance to see and engage with theatre created by people with learning disabilities.