The theatre world has long paved the way for inclusivity in the arts. Continuing our #DisabilityHistoryMonth posts we’re celebrating some of the wonderful companies & artists on our stages.The below are just a few among the vast amount of talent out there-plz keep tagging others!

Founded in 1974 @Chickenshed_UK was built around a core ethos of inclusivity. The company has produced countless shows for all ages as well as offering training opportunities including full Foundation and BA Degrees in Inclusive Theatre, whose alumni include:

Saida Ahmed ( @SaiSai_IAm) graduated from the Chickenshed BA, and went on to be nominated for a Stage Debut Award for her role in 'Little Miss Burden' at The Bunker Theatre ( @BunkerTheatreUK), which you can watch a clip from here:

Achanti Palmer has performed with Chickenshed in many capacities. Her work at Chickenshed then led her to be cast as the lead in the short film 'Our Sister' which premiered at London Film Festival and played in competition at this year’s at Aesthetica and BFI Film Festivals.

Graeae ( @graeae) is well known as one of the world’s leading theatre companies centring D/deaf & disabled artists, championing accessibility and diversity, inventively integrating sign language, captioning and audio description into all their work.

Cast by Graeae Artistic Director Jenny Sealey, after graduating Mountview, as the lead in ‘Reasons to Be Cheerful’, Beth Hinton-Lever ( @BethHintonLever) has worked for the company multiple times & has gone on to perform at Leicester Curve, Derby Theatre & the National Theatre.

Jamal Ajala won Best Actor at the Stage Debut Awards in 2019 for his performance in 'Ear for Eye' the Royal Court. Jamal is an Ensemble Artist for Graeae Theatre.

Huddersfield theatre company Dark Horse ( @DarkHorse_UK) works with actors with learning disabilities, producing and touring original work as well as running vocational training and skill development for entering the industry.

Joe Sproulle has been performing with Dark Horse since 2012, playing in 11 of their shows. He also appeared recently as Josh in ‘The A Word’ on the BBC.

Founded in 2002 Deafinitely Theatre ( @DeafinitelyT) works bilingually creating all shows in BSL and spoken English. It’s the UK’s first deaf launched and deaf led professional theatre company. Deafinitely also run youth and adult training programmes.

Nadia Nadarajah ( @NadiaNadarajah) performed with Deafinitely from 2012-2015, as well as at the Royal Court, National Theatre, Bush Theatre, Royal Exchange, Bristol Old Vic & The Globe, winning best a Broadway World UK Best Supporting Actress award in 2018 for ‘As You Like It’.

Tehran-born performer Ace Mahbaz ( @AceMahbaz) has performed with Deafinitely as Oberon in 2014’s version of 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' at the Globe, as well as appearing as Theseus. Ace knows six sign languages fluently.

Alongside performing with Deafinitely, Stephen Collins ( @BeingStephenC) was in the London Paralympic Ceremony & has worked with DH Ensemble, Graeae, Red Earth & Ramps on the Moon. He’s currently rehearsing ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Leeds Playhouse & will appear in ‘Dune’ in 2021.

The UK's leading professional performing arts company of visually impaired artists and theatre practitioners, Extant ( @ExtantLtd) produces ground-breaking regional and international touring productions, and offers skills and industry training

Amelia Cavallo ( @Bad_Ass_Blindy) is a US-born, visually-impaired multi-talented performer. As well as performing with Extant, they have performed with numerous other UK companies, & they are also the co-founder of Quiplash ( @Quiplashlondon) “taking space for queer crips (quips)”

Access All Areas ( @AAATheatre) make award-winning, disruptive performances by learning disabled & autistic artists. The company also partnered with Central ( @CSSDLondon) to create an award-winning Performance Making Diploma for adults with learning disabilities.

Dayo Koleosho who recently appeared in the National Theatre’s ‘Faith, Hope & Charity’ and has guest starred in several primetime BBC dramas is both an alumnus of CSSD’s Performance Making Diploma and a trustee of Access All Areas.

Through its training and consultancy programme, Access All Areas supported Hollyoaks to cast young actor Talia Grant as the first autistic, Black mixed-race actor ina mainstream role on British TV in 2018.

. @DH_Ensemble. A professional deaf and hearing-led theatre company, which creates live performances using a mixture of movement, BSL, Spoken English, and other methods to offer a unique style of long-form improvisation.

Sophie Stone ( @SophieLStone) is one of the lead artists of the DH Ensemble and a member since its inception. Sophie’s very varied credits also include huge theatrical hits ‘Emilia’ (Globe/West End), ‘Jubilee’ (Royal Exchange/Lyric), ‘Shetland’ & ‘Doctor Who’ (BBC).

Another DH regular is Hermon Berhane ( @Hermon_Berhane) who has appeared in several of their productions as well as working with aforementioned companies Graeae & Deafinitely. Hermon was performing as Virgilia in Sheffield Crucible’s ‘Corialanus’ until lockdown 1 struck!

Ramps on the Moon ( @RampsOTM) is aiming to enrich stories and the way they’re told by normalising the presence of D/deaf and disabled people both on and off stage.

One of the stars of Ramps on the Moon’s first production ‘The Government Inspector’ was Kiruna Stamell ( @Kiruna_Stamell) who has worked widely across UK stage & screen, most recently ‘Cyrano’ in the West End. You may also know Kiruna from her professional debut in ‘Moulin Rouge’.

Ramps on the Moon’s latest production, Oliver Twist, featured Nadeem Islam ( @NadeemRules1) as The Artful Dodger. As well as being an actor Nadeem is a successful TV presenter. His work on the BBC’s See Hear saw him receive a nomination from the RTS Awards for On Screen Talent.

Also making great waves is Rachel Nwokoro ( @RachelShapes) who recently won both the Stage Debut Best Performer award for ‘Little Baby Jesus’ at the Orange Tree AND the Black British Theatre Awards’ inaugural Disability Champion award.

There are, of course, many more companies and artists who do fantastic work, so please tag below! We also wanted to shout out to the following brilliant agencies: Hijinx Actors ( @hijinxactors), Zebedee Agency ( @ZebedeeMan), Visable People ( @LouiseVisABLE) and many more.