Theatre and disability is a subject focusing on the
inclusion
Inclusion or Include may refer to:
Sociology
* Social inclusion, aims to create an environment that supports equal opportunity for individuals and groups that form a society.
** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabiliti ...
of
disability
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...
within a theatrical experience, enabling cultural and aesthetic diversity in the arts. Showing disabled bodies on stage can be to some extent understood as a political aesthetic as it challenges the predominately abled audience's expectations as well as traditional theatre conventions. However, the performance of disabilities on stage has raised polarizing debates about whether the performers are exposed and reduced to their disability or whether they have full agency of who they are and what they represent.
History
Disability theatre formally arose out of the
disability arts and culture movement in the 1980s in the United States and the United Kingdom. There were, however, some disability-focused theatre companies predating this movement, including the
National Theatre of the Deaf
The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) is a Connecticut-based theatre company founded in 1967, and is the oldest theatre company in the United States with a continuous history of domestic and international touring, as well as producing original wor ...
, founded in 1967. Notable early disability theatre companies include
Graeae Theatre Company Graeae Theatre Company, often abbreviated to just Graeae (pronounced "grey-eye") is a British organisation composed of deaf and disabled artists and theatre makers. As well as producing theatre which it tours nationally and internationally to tradit ...
(1980 - UK),
Theatre Terrific (1985 - Canada), and
Back to Back Theatre
Back to Back Theatre is one of the leading contemporary Australian theater companies engaging with disability on stage. The company is based in Geelong, Victoria creating its work nationally and touring around the world. The work produced by the ...
(1988 - Australia).
Inclusion of disabled characters in theatrical works
United States
Tennessee Williams
In ''
The Glass Menagerie
''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...
'',
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
explains to the readers that the character Laura has grown up with a disability. "A childhood illness has left her crippled, one leg slightly shorter than the other, and held in a brace. This defect need not be more than suggested on the stage." This character description is vague enough to allow the director of this production to make their own decision as to how they want to portray Laura. There is enough ambiguity for the director to take the responsibility of showcasing disability as they see fit.
John Belluso
John Belluso
John Belluso (November 13, 1969 – February 10, 2006) was an American playwright best known for his works focusing on the lives of disabled people. He also directed a writing program for disabled people.
Early life and education
Born in War ...
was an American playwright known for his work focusing on what its like living in society with a disability. Similar to many of his characters, Belluso was diagnosed with a rare bone disorder, causing him to live in a wheelchair for the remainder of his life.
''Gretty Good Time'' is a play that centres around a woman with post-polio paralysis. The audience rides the journey with Gretty as she is transported to a state institution where she will soon be unable to function on her own, therefore making her contemplate assisted suicide.
''Wicked''
''Wicked'' is a musical by
Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...
and
Winnie Holzman
Winnie Holzman (born August 18, 1954 in Manhattan) is an American dramatist, screenwriter, and poet. She is known for having created the ABC television series ''My So-Called Life'', which led to a nomination for a scriptwriting Emmy Award in 199 ...
. It has been running on Broadway since 2003, and has launched multiple national tours and productions worldwide. In the musical, the character of Elphaba has a sister who is in a wheelchair named Nessarose. She was disabled at birth due to a congenital birth defect, and goes through the production inhabiting the role of villain. Over the course of Wicked's run, it has not cast a physically disabled actor in the role of Nessarose. Recently, however, in the announced movie adaptation of Wicked, director
Jon M. Chu has launched a search for an actor who is a wheelchair user to be cast in the role of Nessarose, whether they are ambulatory or non-ambulatory. This movie is slated to start filming in the summer of 2022.
''The Phantom of the Opera''
''The Phantom of the Opera'' is a musical by
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...
and
Charles Hart that premiered on Broadway in 1988. It is the longest running musical in Broadway's history, totalling over 24 years. It centres around the masked character of the Phantom, who inhabits and haunts an old Parisian Opera House in the 19th century. It is discovered throughout the production that this character keeps himself masked due to the fact that his face is disfigured, scared of any judgement from the people he encounters. In the last scene of the musical, his romantic interest, Christine, takes off his mask and the extent of his disfigurement is revealed to the audience. In this moment, the intricate make up that is put on the actor for every production is showcased.
References
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