Theatre and disability

Theatre and disability is a subject focusing on the inclusion of disability 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.[1] There were, however, some disability-focused theatre companies predating this movement, including the National Theatre of the Deaf, founded in 1967.[2] Notable early disability theatre companies include Graeae Theatre Company (1980 - UK),[3] Theatre Terrific (1985 - Canada),[4] and Back to Back Theatre (1988 - Australia).[5]

Inclusion of disabled characters in theatrical works

Tennessee Williams

In The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams 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."[6] 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 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.[7]

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.[8]

Wicked

Wicked is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman. 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.[9] Over the course of Wicked's run, it has not cast a physically disabled actor in the role of Nessarose.[10] 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.[11]

The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart that premiered on Broadway in 1988. It is the longest running musical in Broadway's history, totalling over 24 years.[12] It centres around the masked character of the Phantom, who inhabits and haunts an old Parisian Opera House in the 19th century.[13] 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.[14] In this moment, the intricate make up that is put on the actor for every production is showcased.[15]

References
  1. Johnston, Kirsty (2016). Disability Theatre and Modern Drama: Recasting Modernism. Bloomsbury. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4725-1035-8.
  2. Kochhar-Lindgren, Kanta (2013). "Between Two Worlds: The Emerging Aesthetic of the National Theater of the Deaf". In King, Kimball; Fahy, Tom (eds.). Peering Behind the Curtain : Disability, Illness, and the Extraordinary Body in Contemporary Theatre. Routledge. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-415-92997-4.
  3. Love, Catherine (25 February 2016). "Access all areas: the plays that took captioning and signing to their hearts". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  4. Kuppers, Petra (2017). Theatre and Disability. MacMillan Education. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-137-60572-6.
  5. Johnston, Kirsty (2016). Disability Theatre and Modern Drama: Recasting Modernism. Bloomsbury. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4725-1035-8.
  6. Williams, Tennessee (1945). The Glass Menagerie.
  7. Schou, Solvej (2006). "Disabled Playwright John Belluso Dies".
  8. Genzlinger, Neil (13 June 2007). "A Caregiver Not in a Giving Mood". The New York Times.
  9. Haller, Beth (15 March 2004). "Wicked". Disability Studies Quarterly. 24 (2). doi:10.18061/dsq.v24i2.495.
  10. "Inclusion, Don't Forget About Us: Disabilities in Performing Arts". Harvard Political Review. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  11. Major, Michael. "WICKED Film Looks to Authentically Cast 'Wheelchair Users' for Nessarose". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  12. "What are the Longest Running Broadway Shows? | Broadway.org". www.broadway.org. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  13. Kitchen, The Web. "The Phantom of the Opera". Andrew Lloyd Webber. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  14. Sternfeld, Jessica (10 December 2015). "'Pitiful Creature of Darkness': The Subhuman and the Superhuman in The Phantom of the Opera". Music Faculty Books and Book Chapters.
  15. Boos, Kristin (9 May 2008). The Mega-, Melo-, and Meta-Drama in Adaptations of The Phantom of the Opera (Thesis).
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