Bright Sparks Theatre Arts

Inclusive specialized drama projects.

We help adults with Learning Disabilities make theatre.
"The use of the arts to aid communication is an obvious choice; as the arts themselves use non-conventional ways of presenting ideas, which are often beyond typical day-to-day language. "
Marc Walton - Co-founder and Production Manager

"One of our fundamental goals is to unmask the patient - to see the individual behind their condition. "
John Hudson - Artistic Director and Lead Facilitator

Both John and Marc have a long history of making theatre with Learning Disabled and Physically Disabled people, beginning in 1995 delivering drama workshops and arranging performances at Thomas Danby College. After completing his acting training (Middlesex University London) John worked for over five years with Devon-based Companies 'Wolf and Water' and 'Get Changed'. Marc has been Event Manager for 'The Beautiful Octopus Club' since it began in the Wardrobe Club over fifteen years ago.

When John returned to Yorkshire, he teamed up again with Marc to stage the mini-epic, partially improvised, 'Tale of The Giant Strawberry' (Spring 2012) and the subtle multi-media performance 'Swallows and Amazons', at the First_Floor West Yorkshire Playhouse (Autumn 2012).

Following these two projects, John and Marc set up Bright Sparks Theatre Arts Company. They quickly built relationships across Leeds organisations; and began to involve medical students from University of Leeds, Leeds Institute of Medical Education (LIME) using our theatre projects to directly teach them communication skills techniques, in a fun and accessible way. Since the inception of the company, we are now proud partners with Leeds Institute of Medical Education (University Of Leeds), Aspire CBS, Leep1 (formally Leeds People First) and stage@leeds (University Of Leeds).

Our recent projects include:

'Over The Moon' (2017) was an inclusive drama project which culminated in two performances over two consecutive evenings at Stage@Leeds, at the University of Leeds. With support from Patient | Carer Community (PCC), based at Leeds Institute of Medical Education.

‘Jack And The Beans Talk’ (2018) was a twist on the original fairy tale . . . an entirely devised piece with all the ideas coming from the group, with live music, song and dance.

Working with members of Leep1 (Leeds People First) we have created a schools touring project ‘Real Friends’. Ongoing since 2018, the performance and workshop examines hate crime, mate crime and bullying.

‘Return Of The King’ (April and September 2019) is our proudest moment; and is a rocking and rolling roller-coaster of a show about time-travel, friendship, freedom, technology and Elvis. Working with members of Leep1 (formally Leeds People First) and Aspire CBS – we created an uplifting and spectacular theatre show with a large cast of Learning Disabled people from Leeds. We imagine a world without joy, without freedom; and without Elvis . . . what can be done to bring love and harmony back to planet Earth? With the help of our heroes; and Professor Brian Sox, we set off on a mission to restore a world of happiness and togetherness.
"An evil genius has kidnapped Elvis from our timeline. Now we must save him, so he can save the world. "

Bright Sparks' ongoing work seeks to improve communication between individuals and groups which otherwise may struggle, using drama and arts activities to make it safe, enjoyable and most importantly, playful. It's funny . . . when the barriers get removed, you wonder if they were ever really there to begin with.