Richard has been Director of Open Theatre for 30 years. Open Theatre aims to place the creativity of young people with learning disabilities at the centre of the cultural life of Birmingham and Coventry. As part of this aim, Richard set up The Shysters, a company of actors with learning disabilities, in partnership with the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in 1997. Through the development of a unique nonverbal physical theatre practice, the company gained a national reputation for the ground-breaking quality of its performance work ‘on the borderlines of theatre, dance and mime’.

In addition to leading the performance work of the company, Richard has forged long-term creative collaborations with special schools in the West Midlands region, to examine and maximise the impact the nonverbal physical theatre practice can have on children’s learning and development and on young people’s transition into adult life. Open Theatre currently has a team of 15 practitioners working all year round in 20 special schools. Through appropriate training provision and landmark production work, and through partnership work with other cultural organisations the aim is to place the creativity of young people with learning disabilities at the centre of the cultural life of Birmingham and Coventry.