Drama sessions for people over 18 with learning disabilities leading to public performances. We support participants to develop creativity and improve their social skills and confidence. Fun but serious sessions for those with high ambitions.

6-8pm Special Assignments Company Paul Chamberlain Building Studio 2 University of Winchester

Blue Apple is an ambitious creative company that supports performers with learning disabilities to develop theatre, dance and film skills. 

Over 17 years Blue Apple Theatre has become one of the most well-known disability arts organisations in the south of England, presenting high quality productions to the widest possible audiences – performing and touring drama, dance, film and song within a variety of indoor and outdoor venues locally, nationally and even internationally with partners in the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy. We have established an extensive portfolio of more than 30 productions and have been hugely successful in our mission to make popular classics accessible to people with learning disabilities, which in turn has mirrored that accessibility to a wider audience to open up new ways of appreciating the universal meanings within the text.

Blue Apple Theatre is now recognised as one of the foremost theatre groups in the UK for people with learning disabilities. With two highly popular shows being staged each year in Winchester and touring performances across the south of England, including at the prestigious Globe Theatre in London, Blue Apple not only provides a range of theatrical opportunities for its participants, but also challenges common perceptions and informs the wider public debate.  Now in our 17th year, our major projects are bespoke creations built around a wide range of skills and needs within our large cast. Some are able only to remember a few words whilst others can perform large speeches, some have a profound understanding of stagecraft whilst others are still learning how gestures and facial expression can support meaning in performance and in real-world settings. Though we focus finally on a live performance, all the sessions which lead towards it are in fact 'rehearsals for life'.

“Blue Apple is a team builder. It builds both you as a person and as a character as well.” - James Benfield, Blue Apple performer