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Winner of the TaPRA New Career Research in Theatre/Performance Prize 2016

This is the first scholarly book to focus exclusively on theatre and learning disability as theatre, rather than advocacy or therapy. Hargrave provocatively realigns the - hitherto unvoiced - assumptions that underpin such practice and proposes that learning disabled artists have earned the right to full critical review.

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Foreword by Tim Wheeler Acknowledgements Prologue: Of moths and methods PART I: THE SURROGATE 1. The end of disability arts: theatre, disability and the social model 2. Pure products go crazy: the aesthetic value of learning disability 3. On quality: disability and aesthetic judgements 4. Genealogies: the cultural faces of learning disability PART II: A PROPER ACTOR 5. Nobody´s Perfect: disability identity as masquerade 6. The uncanny return of Boo Radley: disability, dramaturgy and reception Conclusion Envoi: The Bartleby Parallax Sources and bibliography Appendix Notes Index

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"Theatres of Learning Disability is well-organized, clearly written, and carefully supported by disability theory, performance theory, and detailed evidence from chosen productions, including Hargrave´s own reactions to the work. ... Theatres of Learning Disability is an important advancement in the underdeveloped field of disability and performance, effectively arguing how we can and must critically engage with disability art at the level of craft and aesthetics." (Scott Wallin, The Drama Review, Vol. 61 (1), 2017)

"Hargrave´s book examines the field of theatrical practices involving actors with learning disabilities ... . Hargrave´s aim is to establish a theoretical approach that goes beyond therapeutic or social frameworks and instead conceives of this type of work as a professional art practice. ... Hargrave´s exclusive focus on the aesthetics of theatres of learning disability is still exceptional in the emerging specialist field of disability and performance ... ." (Sarah Marinucci, Theatre Research International, Vol. 41 (2), July, 2016)

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Matt Hargrave is Senior Lecturer in Drama and Applied Theatre at the University of Northumbria, UK. As a writer and theatre practitioner he has worked with many leading theatres and cultural providers including Northern Stage, New Writing North, Mind the Gap, National Association of Youth Theatres, The Forge Arts and Education Agency, Helix Arts, Sheffield Crucible, Dead Earnest Theatre, and Arts Council England. His previous publications include articles in journals such as Theatre, Dance and Performance Training and Research in Drama Education.

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