Learning disabled actors

A still from AfterLife, in which Lindsay Duncan plays May Brogan and Paula Sage her daughter, Roberta. Sage won a Bafta Scotland award for her performance in the film Photograph: PR

Learning disabled actors: Actor Chris Burke

American actor Chris Burke (44), best known for his starring role as Charles 'Corky' Thacher in the US TV show Life Goes on. Burke has also appeared in such shows as ER and The Division and is the goodwill ambassador for the US National Down Syndrome Society Photograph: Carolyn Contino/BEI/Rex Features

Learning disabled actors: Chickenshed production of As a Mother of a Brown Boy

The Chickenshed theatre company's production of As a Mother of a Brown Boy. Chickenshed 'works using an inclusive creative process which means everyone is welcome, and everyone is valued' Photograph: John Pridmore

Chickenshed runs children's and youth theatre workshops for 600 people, education courses for over 100 students, community outreach projects and a network of satellite 'Sheds' across the country (and even one in Russia). Since starting in 1974, the company has created and produced more than 1,000 performances Photograph: John Pridmore

Learning disabled actors: Actors from the Spare Tyre theatre company perform Feeble Minds, June 2009

Actors from the Spare Tyre theatre company perform Feeble Minds in June 2009. The company has, for the last 30 years, worked intensively with people who have a wide range of disabilities such as dementia, autism, physical and sensory impairments, mental health, Down's syndrome, and seizures Photograph: PR

Learning disabled actors: The Spare Tyre theatre company in rehearsal for Feeble Minds June 2009

The Spare Tyre theatre company in rehearsal for Feeble Minds Photograph: PR

Learning disabled actors: Tommy Jessop as Ben in Coming Down the Mountain.

Tommy Jessop (front) as Ben and Nicholas Hoult as David in the 2007 TV movie Coming Down the Mountain. The story, dealing with David's resentment of his brother, Ben, who has Down's syndrome, was written by Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Photograph: Tiger Aspect/BBC

Performing & Disability: Two actors on stage in Mind The Gap's Boo.

Jonathan Ide and Joanne Haines on stage in Boo, the new show from Mind the Gap theatre company. Mind the Gap is an experienced touring theatre company based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, which performs around the UK and internationally. The company's mission is to 'dismantle the barriers to artistic excellence so that learning disabled and non-disabled artists can perform alongside each other as equals' Photograph: Tim Smith

Performing & Disability: Two actors perform on stage, one sits reading a newspaper

Actors Alan Clay (left) and Jonathan Ide in Boo, a play inspired by the character of Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird, and which deals with the problem of what happens when you 'don't fit in' Photograph: Tim Smith

Performing & Disability: Four actors on stage performing Boo.

Jonathan Ide (left), Alan Clay, Robert Ewens and Joanne Haines perform Boo Photograph: Tim Smith