How it all began
Founder Blue Apple Theatre actor Tommy Jessop in rehearsal for The Tempest, 2019. Photo by Mike Hall.
The early years
When Tommy Jessop left school in 2004, he told his parents he wanted to be an actor. Tommy has Down’s syndrome, and finding an inclusive theatre group close to home proved difficult. With the nearest theatre company for people with a learning disability based in London, his mum, Jane, decided to create an ambitious local company where people with learning disabilities would be equally valued.
Pilot workshops were held in 2005 and quickly attracted more than 50 people. Blue Apple Theatre was later founded as part of the local Mencap, with one part-time drama teacher supported by volunteers, and held its first workshop in July 2005. From the beginning, the company was determined to be ambitious, inclusive and high quality.
Jane explained: “I worked in business and marketing, not theatre, but actually that was a brilliant background as I could push the doors and raise the money, bringing in the people who knew what they were doing to direct the plays, although I did also very much enjoy directing a few shows when I had the opportunity and supporting rehearsals.
“I remember at the first rehearsal people coming up to me and saying ‘we are so lonely, so bored, we don’t have any friends.’ They were sitting in their rooms just watching television, apart from doing circuit training on Saturdays, they did little else.
“At the first workshop people came and they just stood in little islands and not talking, but then after a while they were like butterflies opening their wings. They made friends; became confident and started making plans together. It was wonderful to see.
“Right from the beginning, we were ambitious. We wanted to lift the ceiling of expectation and change the minds of the public about what they believed people with learning disabilities could do.
“I believe Blue Apple has done this. The plays and dance performances Blue Apple produces are performed to such high standards, members are very kind and supportive to one another and are such lovely, lively people - all of that helps other people understand that people with learning disabilities are just like everyone else. They have toured and been asked to perform all over the country and even overseas. I know that the people of Winchester and beyond are proud of them all.”
Weekly rehearsals began at the Tower Arts Centre in Winchester, supported by Hampshire County Council staff and volunteers. In the early years, the company grew quickly in confidence and ambition, with new artists joining and rehearsals expanding to include percussion, clowning and dance. In September 2006, Keren Ben Dor led rehearsals, while Jo Harris became dance leader and Louis Sarton joined as administrator.
Born to be Blue was the company’s first show and a showcase of work in progress. Performed over two nights in December 2005, it gave every member of the company a role, with costumes made by the performers themselves. In 2006, Jason and the Astronauts took the company into more adventurous territory, followed by a public performance at Winchester’s Hat Fair in temperatures of over 30 degrees.
Later that year, Cinderella and the Wolf was written by Will Jessop with cast members and performed in Winchester and at the Langdon Down Centre in London. By 2007, Blue Apple had grown in both confidence and scale, and won the Fred Matser / Peace Child Rediscover Your Heart Award for changing the way people see and understand learning disability.
That same year, the company created a touring dance company and performed Touching Your Heart at the award ceremony in London, for the Mencap national conference and at summer fundraising events in Winchester’s watermeadows. Blue Apple had grown to around 50 members and 23 volunteers, with a total audience of 1,500 over 12 months and a long waiting list. People with learning disabilities were also volunteering offstage and taking part in interviews for new staff.
By 2009, Blue Apple employed its first Artistic Director, Peter Clerke. He said: “It was brilliant from the start, the belief and the ability of everybody made it such a joy to work with people and see how they progressed.
“Blue Apple has a fantastic membership with great talent, ability and personality. The shows, over the past 15 years haven't, however, been created by 'magic'; they've been created by the skills and experience of a team of very dedicated and talented professional artists, working with that fantastic membership.”
The company went on to establish Apple Core, its touring company, and to create Freddie’s Story, its first issue-based training film for health professionals, commissioned by Royal Mencap and inspired by Mencap’s Death by Indifference report. The film was sold to almost every NHS Foundation Trust in England.
Blue Apple’s Christmas Carol followed in December 2009, then A Midsummer Night’s Dream in June 2010, its first fully professionally supported production. From there, the company continued to grow in scale and ambition, with productions and projects that reached wider audiences and began to attract national and international attention.
Development
Blue Apple Theatre became an independent registered charity in 2013. The following year, it hired its first full-time manager, helping the company to build on its growing success and expand opportunities for people with learning disabilities.
In 2016, Richard Conlon became Artistic Director. With experience as a writer, director, producer and workshop leader, he brought fresh energy to Blue Apple and continued the company’s focus on creating theatre that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.
In April 2018, Blue Apple announced a five-year residency at the University of Winchester, moving its headquarters into the university and strengthening its links with the Faculty of Arts. The partnership reflected shared values around inclusion, social justice and wellbeing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Blue Apple adapted quickly by introducing online classes and digital techniques to keep people connected and to continue producing work. This response was especially important for participants with learning disabilities, who were among those most affected by isolation and loneliness.
Blue Apple’s digital response was recognised with a number of awards in 2022. In June, the company won the Digital Innovation Award at the Winchester Business Excellence Awards, followed later that month by the Digital Transformation award at the South Coast Tech Awards. In November, Blue Apple received the Best Use of Technology award in the South Coast Business Awards, recognising the company’s success in sustaining activity and performance during the pandemic.
The company’s wider impact was also recognised in 2022, when Blue Apple was named a finalist in the Local Business of the Year category at the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards. That same year, Georgiana Robertson received an honorary fellowship from the University of Winchester in recognition of her longstanding contribution to Blue Apple and to the wider support of people with learning disabilities.
Blue Apple’s work continued to have a significant impact in 2021 and 2022. Founder Jane Jessop received the Badge of the Order of Mercy for distinguished voluntary service, and Tommy Jessop was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by the University of Winchester. These honours reflected the wider cultural and social impact of the company’s work, as well as its contribution to changing perceptions of learning disability through the performing arts.
Blue Apple’s international work also developed through the Be IN! (clusive) project, a European collaboration funded by Erasmus+. The project brought together theatre companies in the UK, Czech Republic and Poland to share practice, challenge stereotypes and explore inclusion through theatre. Festivals in Brno and Winchester, a conference in Warsaw and an exhibition in Brno all formed part of this important project.
Blue Apple also reached international audiences through Frankenstein, first presented in the UK in 2021 and later performed in Rome as part of the Keats-Shelley 200 bicentenary campaign. The production was also screened in Beijing in 2023, reaching a wide audience as part of the UK Disability Arts Spring Screening Season.
In 2023, the company continued to build its reputation for ambitious and inclusive work, and in March 2024 it received a Mayor’s Award at Winchester Guildhall in recognition of its contribution to the city and wider community.
Becoming part of Minstead Trust
In May 2025, Minstead Trust and Blue Apple Theatre became one charity. Blue Apple is now a proud part of Minstead Trust with its own identity and creative spirit. The partnership brings together high-quality social care, supported employment and creative expression, and strengthens the company’s ability to support people with learning disabilities to live independently, grow in confidence and express themselves through the performing arts.
Extending reach and opportunity
Blue Apple Theatre began in Winchester with a focus on drama, creating ambitious, fully staged productions that challenged expectations of what inclusive theatre could be. As the company has developed, its artistic practice has expanded to encompass a wider range of performing arts, including dance, singing, film, puppetry and unscripted work for outdoor and festival settings.
Alongside this expansion in form, Blue Apple has extended its reach beyond Winchester, developing mixed performing arts programmes across Hampshire that bring together drama, dance and singing. These programmes are designed to support developing performers, offering structured creative development alongside opportunities to perform for a public audience. Each January, this work is brought together in For One Night Only, a platform performance at Thornden Hall that showcases work from across the county and provides an important stepping stone between participation and larger‑scale performance.
Blue Apple Theatre is now widely recognised for its high‑quality productions in drama, dance, film and song, performed locally, nationally and internationally. This reputation reflects the company’s continued commitment to ambition, inclusion and artistic quality - values that continue to shape how Blue Apple develops new work and creates opportunities for performers at every stage of their journey.
Alongside this growth, Blue Apple Theatre and Minstead Trust are increasingly focused on developing the voice and leadership of participants within the organisation. This includes creating opportunities for people with lived experience to shape artistic work, influence decision‑making and contribute to how the organisation develops.
Blue Apple’s work is also reaching a wider and more diverse group of performers, including people who identify as neuro‑disabled. This reflects a broader understanding of access, inclusion and representation, and a commitment to ensuring that artistic opportunities continue to evolve in response to the people they are for.
Work beyond the stage
Alongside its public performances, Blue Apple Theatre is increasingly commissioned to deliver workshops, performances and expert‑by‑experience engagement in educational, healthcare and professional settings. Drawing directly on its artistic practice, this work supports learning, reflection and dialogue around learning disability, inclusion and lived experience.
Blue Apple’s work has also extended into film and digital media, addressing more complex and politically charged themes such as prejudice, rights, remembrance and environmental justice. These projects use performance to challenge stereotypes, surface lived experience and contribute to public and professional debate, while maintaining the same commitment to artistic quality and respect that underpins the company’s stage work.
Recent commissions and projects have included higher education teaching, NHS conferences, creative workshops in educational settings, and a series of short films created for public engagement and commemorative contexts.
More information about commissioned workshops and professional work can be found here.
Selected advocacy films can be found here: