Celebrating Small Charity Week: The Twisting Ducks Theatre Company

This week is Small Charity Week. To celebrate, each day we're going to feature a small charity and tell you about the amazing work that they do. Today's small but wonderful charity is...

The Twisting Ducks Theatre Company

Inspiring Stories and Inclusive Theatre

Since 2007, The Twisting Ducks Theatre Company has worked with people with learning disabilities and autistic people across the North East to enable them to lead on creating original issue-based theatre and film. We use the arts as a tool to help people explore social issues and to have a voice. By showcasing work on a public platform that reflects their own lived experience, and that raises awareness about issues that are important to them, our artists with learning disabilities and autism champion inclusion and citizenship for themselves and their peers.  

Last year, over 800 people took part in our work and we supported groups to devise and perform five original theatre pieces including Employment Roulette at Live Theatre, Newcastle - a play about the employment barriers that people with learning disabilities and autistic people often experience. These plays have given our community a stronger voice about the issues they face, and have positively changed perceptions amongst the wider community: 

“Very informative and opened my eyes to challenges I was not aware of faced by people with learning disabilities and autism around living situations. High performance value, interesting content and engaging storylines”

As part of our mission to tackle the inequalities that our community face, we also deliver an Accessible Health Resource service, producing innovative commissioned film resources and multi-media performances that communicate information to people with learning disabilities, and/or raise awareness amongst health and social care professionals, in an accessible and creative way. 

To find out more about The Twisting Ducks work, visit https://www.thetwistingducks.co.uk