Cutting Edge Theatre Initiative: Setting the Scene

Abstract

In setting the scene, this chapter presents the perspectives, experiences and insights of a group of individuals who became involved with the Cutting Edge Theatre Initiative. Using transcript data, it provides a context within which to situate the emerging issues, making parallels with the changing legislative and policy landscape. It begins by introducing the two joint Directors and includes reflections from a senior evaluator. It also includes my immersion in and experience of becoming familiar with the Cutting Edge Theatre Initiative. Still further, it includes my own personal experiences of discrimination, which have informed my own understanding and which I cannot avoid disclosing here. In writing about individuals labelled as having ‘learning difficulties’, it is important to acknowledge my own apprehensions and difficulties with the use of terminology. The chapter involves a considerable amount of unfolding, explanation and attention to detail. It uncovers silenced voices and forgotten accounts. It draws upon Foucault’s historical methodology of archaeology and genealogy (Kendall and Wickham 2003), uncovering the participants’ fragmented, overlapping insights and experiences. It tells a story of the experience and development of a particular case. It also highlights the changing relationship between Cutting Edge and Red Brick College of Higher Education.