ADULT Event - FREE COMMUNITY EVENT
Stephen Unwin in conversation – Beautiful Lives: How We Got Learning Disabilities So Wrong
16:00 - 17:00
Thur 18 Sept
Guildford High School
This is a free community event.
If you’re interested in a ticket please click here to email Director Alex Andrews to reserve your place.
Tickets are issued on a first come first served basis.
“This book is both heartrending and gorgeous ... ultimately it’s about love. He teaches us humanity
”
Join renowned theatre and opera director Stephen Unwin as he explores the history of our interaction with those with learning disabilities, told through his eyes as father to a son with severe learning disabilities. Beautiful Lives is a personal and pragmatic exploration of the public’s changing attitudes and the way that this has affected people’s lived realities. From the ancient world to the chilling realities of twentieth-century eugenics, this powerful book uncovers a startling and rarely told history - one deeply embedded in the challenges still faced today.
“With an astonishing breadth of research and a profoundly personal narrative, Stephen Unwin’s book on society’s treatment of those living with learning disabilities is revealing, wise, angry and hopeful. Thank you, Joey, for getting your dad off his arse to write this book.”
ABOUT the Author
Stephen Unwin is one of Britain's leading theatre and opera directors. He founded English Touring Theatre and opened the Rose Theatre Kingston. He is the author of ten books, including guides to Shakespeare, Brecht, Ibsen and twentieth century drama. In 2022 he published Poor Naked Wretches, an original and much praised study of Shakespeare's working people.
Stephen's second son Joey has severe learning disabilities and Stephen is a campaigner for the rights and opportunities of people like him. His stage plays include All Our Children and Laughing Boy, both of which concern the historic abuse of disabled children and young people. He writes a regular column for Byline Times, mostly on disability, as well as a popular blog on his website.
“A beautiful book - powerful, persuasive, illuminating, moving.”
© Edmond Terakopian
