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Disability and Accessibility

How can we make every aspect of theatre practice and participation accessible to people of all abilities? Disability aesthetics, accessibility measures for artists and audience members, and work created by artists with disabilities are all covered here. A great place to start is the 2019 series The Future of Theatre is Accessible, curated by Talleri McRae and Mickey Rowe, or you can dive into Unsettling Dramaturgy’s panel Praxis Sessions for Virtual Collaboration: Cripping Practice or videos from the Neurodiversity Matters Conference. To learn more about HowlRound’s goals and standards for accessibility, you can go here.

The Latest

We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID
Essay
We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID
by Taylor Leigh Lamb
21 March 2024
Aerial Performance in a Wheelchair 
Podcast
Aerial Performance in a Wheelchair 
by Tjaša Ferme, Laurel Lawson
7 March 2024
Autistic Artists Should Be Telling Autistic Stories
Essay
Autistic Artists Should Be Telling Autistic Stories
by Megan Lummus
12 February 2024
Blind Leading the Blind Part 2
Essay

Blind Leading the Blind Part 2

OjO in San Diego

7 December 2015

In this second installment, Artistic Director Jeffrey Carpenter discusses his experience producing OjO: The Next Generation of Travel in San Diego.

The Striking Gestures of Teatro Patologico’s Medea at La MaMa
Essay

The Striking Gestures of Teatro Patologico’s Medea at La MaMa

27 November 2015

David Bruin on Teatro Patologico’s production of Medea at La Mama in New York City. 

All Eyes on Me (whether I like it or not)
Essay

All Eyes on Me (whether I like it or not)

Tourette Syndrome in the Theatre

8 November 2015

Actor Gardiner Comfort discusses his experiences as a performer and audience member with Tourette Syndrome, and how it has inspired aspects of his solo show The Elephant in Every Room I Enter.

The Blind Leading the Blind
Essay

The Blind Leading the Blind

The OjO Experience in Pittsburgh

4 November 2015

In this first installment, Artistic Director Jeffrey Carpenter discusses the origins of Bricolage’s OjO: The Next Generation of Travel performance.

Against Sameness in Theatre
Essay

Against Sameness in Theatre

28 October 2015

Stephanie Barton-Fracas, artistic director of Nicu’s Spoon, New York’s first and oldest inclusive theatre, talks about inclusivity as a necessary reflection of our current society.

Performance of Medea by Teatro Patologico (Italy) directed by Dario D’Ambrosi
Video

Performance of Medea by Teatro Patologico (Italy) directed by Dario D’Ambrosi

Sunday 18 October 2015
New York, NY, United States

 

La MaMa presented a performance of Teatro Patologico’s Medea directed by Dario D’Ambrosi livestreamed from New York City on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 18 October at 1 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 3 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4 p.m. EDT (New York) / 20:00 GMT / 21:00 BST (London) / 22:00 CEST (Rome). 

Three Reasons To Cheer Deaf West's Spring Awakening, and One Thing To Hope for the Future
Essay

Three Reasons To Cheer Deaf West's Spring Awakening, and One Thing To Hope for the Future

1 October 2015

Jonathan Mandell on the Deaf West Broadway production of Spring Awakening

Inclusivity and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Essay

Inclusivity and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

24 September 2015

Justin Kaiser explores the issues of representation and neurodiversity in casting for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Beyond the Choice
Essay

Beyond the Choice

Confronting the Challenges of Producing Important Work

12 September 2015

Producer Jack Eidson writes about the challenges he’s faced casting  The Lilliput Troupe  with little person actors.

Theatre Access
Essay

Theatre Access

Thinking Beyond the Ramp

29 July 2015

Ruth Zamoyta of New Jersey Theatre Alliance describes obstacles to theatre attendance faced by patrons with disabilities, and some programs in New Jersey that are working to overcome them. 

Pause, Move Forward
Essay

Pause, Move Forward

Physicality and Inner Strength in Colossal

28 July 2015

Spencer Shannon on Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker, produced by Boston's Company One Theatre.

Bodies On The Line
Essay

Bodies On The Line

Able-Bodied Actors, Disabled Roles, and Praise

27 July 2015

Scholar Eli Van Sickel examines the casting of able-bodied performers to play disabled characters through the performances of Bradley Cooper, Daniel Radcliffe, and Kevin Spacey.

Disability in Comic and Tragic Frames
Essay

Disability in Comic and Tragic Frames

5 July 2015

Scholar and dramaturg Magda Romanska on the connection between humor and disability.

Mixed Blood Theatre’s Disability Visibility Project
Essay

Mixed Blood Theatre’s Disability Visibility Project

27 May 2015

Aditi Brennan Kapil and Jack Reuler of Mixed Blood Theatre share the Disability Visibility project with hopes of improving the relationship between the American theatre and disability.

Our Differences are Our Strengths
Essay

Our Differences are Our Strengths

Neurodiversity in Theatre

2 May 2015

Putting his dichotomies to work, Mickey Rowe explains how his autism helps him to be a better actor.

Casting a Non-Autistic Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on Broadway
Essay

Casting a Non-Autistic Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on Broadway

4 April 2015

Is it appropriate for a non-autistic to play the part of an autistic? 

Convening "The Republic of Inclusion" on Accessibility and Live Performance at Progress Festival
Video

Convening "The Republic of Inclusion" on Accessibility and Live Performance at Progress Festival

Sunday 15 February 2015
Toronto, Canada

Canada's SpiderWebShow and The Collaborations through Canada’s National Arts Centre English Theatre presented the convening The Republic of Inclusion about accessibility and live performance from SummerWorks / The Theatre Centre’s Progress International Festival of Performance and Ideas in Toronto livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 15 February at 1 p.m.-5 p.m. EST (Toronto) / 11 a.m.-3 p.m. MST (Calgary) / 10 a.m.-2 p.m. PST (Vancouver) / 18:00-22:00 GMT (London).

The New Freak Shows
Essay

The New Freak Shows

11 December 2014

Are we free to gawk again? That’s what Broadway audiences are doing during the revival of The Elephant Man, one of several stage shows and television series that are bringing attention back to the freak show.

avant bard logo
Performance & Discussion of Visible Language 
Video

Performance & Discussion of Visible Language 

A World Premiere Musical in American Sign Language and in English

Sunday 16 November 2014
Washington, D.C., United States

The WSC Avant Bard theatre company and the Gallaudet University Theatre and Dance Program presented Visible Languagea world premiere musical, performed in American Sign Language and English, about the 1890s culture war that changed the life of every Deaf person in America livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 16 November 2014, at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 2 p.m. EST (Washington, DC). 

Logo for Dramatists Guild.
Panel Writing for Disability at Dramatists Guild of America (ASL Interpreted)
Video

Panel Writing for Disability at Dramatists Guild of America (ASL Interpreted)

Tuesday 23 September 2014 
New York, NY, United States

The Dramatists Guild of America presented the panel discussion Writing for Disability livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 23 September at 5:30 p.m. EDT (New York) / 10:30 p.m. BST (London) / 2:30 p.m. PDT (Vancouver) / 4:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 21:30 GMT. 

Photo from Peter Pan.
Autism & Theater Techniques to Increase Social Skills
Essay

Autism & Theater Techniques to Increase Social Skills

28 April 2014

We produced "A Christmas Carol" and adapted our own versions of "Peter Pan" and "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". The students reveled in the attention from their sold-out audiences. These children weren’t just spectators; they were the stars of the show. To a child who is constantly told, "You won’t be able to do that," by teachers or medical professionals, this was an unexpected feat.

Widening the Embrace of Theater
Essay

Widening the Embrace of Theater

The Different Forms of Accessibility

10 April 2014

The Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston was started by four people: Andrea Genser, Susan Kosoff, Jane Staab, and Tony Hancock. The mission of the theatre was to make a professional theater that would be accessible to everyone, with a multicultural cast, with black, yellow, white, green people. When you start defining people by color, just pull in green and blue and orange, like the Muppets. We just want to widen our embrace. The priority was to be affordable, but from the start, we would always have a show that was interpreted. That was in 1981, and we worked with a lot of people to make that happen. Audio description started around 1990 at Imagination Stage, and Wheelock Family Theatre was drawn to it, as we wanted to cast a wider net, and include blind people.

Wheelock Family Theatre logo.
How Accessibility Works at the Wheelock Family Theatre
Essay

How Accessibility Works at the Wheelock Family Theatre

10 April 2014

We did "Pippi", and we had American Sign Language interpretation every weekend. This is because Wendy Lement, the producer at Wheelock, directed the play herself, and wanted the interpreters to be integrated with the cast. They were signing performers, rather than interpreters. They were each assigned a character in the cast, had their own blocking, and dressed to blend in onstage. "Pippi" was unusual in that the interpreters/sign performers rehearsed with the cast from day one until the opening night. They started from scratch, not knowing who the characters are, and worked alongside the cast to develop them. (This interview was conducted in ASL, and was translated and edited by Ariel Baker-Gibbs.)

Americans With Disabilities Act Logo.
Celebrating Our Imperfections
Essay

Celebrating Our Imperfections

A Conversation with Adina Tal of Israel’s Nalaga’at Center

10 April 2014

In this installment of the Disability in Theatre seriesKevin Becerra interviews Adina Tal, Founder and Artisitc Director of  Nalaga’at Center in Tel Aviv, on her production of Not by Bread Alone

Disability in American Theater
Essay

Disability in American Theater

Where is the Tipping Point?

7 April 2014

Not only is the portrayal of disability by a non-disabled actor equivalent to blackface—what we in the disability community derisively call “cripping up” (pretending to have a disability)—universally accepted as a technical skill tucked away in an actor’s bag of tricks, it is always applauded and more often than not, rewarded. 16 percent of Academy Award winners have received the coveted statue for playing a character with a disability; just two of those winners were disabled actors. If you think this phenomenon exists only in Hollywood, consider the 2013-14 New York theater season.