Lmda

digital conference

2024

Exposing disability

the function of dramaturgy in reinforcing the models of disability

Authored by sarah bedwell

The Disabled Body & The American Theatre

Contemporary American theatre practices necessitate a highly adaptable ​and versatile performer, capable of executing physically and mentally ​challenging scenes to captivate the audience. According to Donovan ​(2023), this is essential to deliver an enjoyable performance and keep the ​audience engaged.

On the other hand, disabled individuals frequently face violent exposure ​and preconceived notions about their bodies. To draw a parallel: disclosing ​one's HIV status often results in negative assumptions about how the ​individual contracted the disease, perpetuated by discriminatory parties ​(Couser, 2016).

Similarly, in the theatre industry, an actor who uses a visible accessibility ​aid during auditions is often subject to assumptions about the "limits" of ​their disability before they can even perform, further illustrating the ​prevalence of ableism in the field.

“A Chorus Line” (2006 Revival). Photo by Sarah Krulwich

Image Description: A row of dancers straight ​across the front of a stage, holding headshots ​in front their faces

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, ​discrimination based on impairment may be ​illegal, but casting on the basis of aesthetics is ​not. Legally, it is very easy for casting directors to ​hide their prejudices behind visual demands, which ​affects all people whose bodies do not meet an ​idealized standard of fitness or beauty.

The Actors Equity Association recently reported that only 1% of their contracts went to performers with a ​disclosed disability (Donovan, 2023). But the 1% of AEA contracts that go to disabled people only accounts for ​actors who chose to disclose their disability status. It is highly unlikely that only 1% of AEA actors are disabled, ​given that 25% of the adult American population have some type of disability (Center for Disease Control, n.d.)

“I think it’s useful to consider that the opposite of ‘disabled’ is not ​‘abled’… but ‘enabled’ – the definition of which is: ‘to support, facilitate, ​empower: to make possible or easy’. Therefore, to be disabled is to be ​denied support, facilitation, power and means.”

- Playwright and dramaturg Kaite O’Reilly , 2020

Models of Disability

Our understanding of disability has evolved over time, leading to the development of various models that seek to ​explain its nature and implications for individuals and society. These models provide analytical frameworks for ​comprehending the origins of disability, appropriate responses, and its societal significance (Dirth & Branscombe, ​2017).

To illustrate how dramaturgy converses with these models, we will be taking a look ​at 4 of them:

the moral model

The word ‘disability’ did not materialize until the eighteenth century. Prior to the development of modern science (i.e. evolution, ​genetics), when Western culture was ruled by religious faith, the moral model of disability posed disability (re: deformity) as a ​consequence of wrongdoings; a person’s disability was a punishment from God (Wells-Jensen & Zuber, 2020). In the early ​modern theatre, the disabled body was a symbol of monstrosity — as canonized by Richard III (Williams, 2019).

Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog

Thou that wast sealed in thy nativity

The slave of nature and the son of hell;

Thou slander of thy heavy mother’s womb

Richard III, 1.3.239-242.

Margaret’s above speech gestures at both his physical appearance and how it informs his relationship with her. It connects his ​body to his deviance without naming or even describing his impairment or appearance.

“Such displays of disability rhetoric allow the theatre to venture beyond the embodied form of the ​actor that is central to dramatic form, indulging in tropes that can never actually index a body.”

- Dr. Katherine Williams, Demonstrable Disability

According to Williams, Shakespeare's use of rhetoric that is not ​tied to physical descriptions suggests that negative language ​about bodily differences may have existed before prejudice ​against medical impairments. By employing disability rhetoric in ​the absence of a disabled body, disability is reduced to a mere ​accessory, much like Shakespeare's use of crossdressing in his ​plays. This transforms disability into a mere costume piece, a ​symbol of bodily difference, and a motif of deviance, ultimately ​rendering it an inauthentic representation.

“Richard III” (1984). Royal Shakespeare Company

Image Description: A white man with a pronounced ​hunched back and walking canes on each arm

the MEDICAL model

The medical model, created by non-disabled scientists, claims that disability is primarily derived from a medical diagnosis ​(Wells-Jensen & Zuber, 2020). The medical model not only marginalizes people with disabilities, but also seeks to eliminate ​disability via medical cure, creating an unsafe environment for disabled individuals. This society's desire to erase disability ​results in the exclusion of disabled persons, as they are viewed as incomplete or invalid citizens.

In modern theatre, pathology can provide quick characterization by using disability (via diagnosis) as a narrative prosthesis to ​explain the character's present emotional state (Mitchell and Snyder, 2014).

In Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, Laura Wingfield has a limp leg. Before she even speaks, her limp quickly ​contextualizes why a woman of her age is unmarried, socially awkward, and therefore depressed. The impulse to give a ​character a disability for plot or thematic purposes perpetuates the idea that an impairment defines a person, and it is up to ​them to surpass that expectation (Sandahl, 2005).

“Disability isn’t a metaphor I choose to use. Maybe it’s because disabled characters are too often used to ​represent some broken aspect of the human condition... Let the story be about the grander aspect of the ​human condition, and let the disabled character be a for-real human being, for a change.“

-Playwright Lynn Manning, 2001

Rhonda S. Black and Lori Pretes (2007) collapse disability into seven categorical stereotypes:

• pitiable and pathetic (Laura Wingfield, The Glass Menagerie)
• a “supercrip” (Helen Keller, The Miracle Worker)
  
• sinister, evil, and criminal (Richard III)
  
• better-off-dead (Jessie, ‘night, Mother)
  
• maladjusted own-worst-enemy (Ken, Fifth of July)
• burden to society (Porgy, Porgy and Bess)
• unable to live a successful life (Don, Butterflies Are Free)
  

You will probably recognize some big prize winners amongst the titles utilizing these trips. Celebrating these oppressive ​narratives gives credence to the idea that disability is a problem that keeps a character from achieving their full potential. ​The negativity surrounding these stereotypes are deeply rooted in the medical model’s desire to eradicate disability.

the social model

The social model of disability was first introduced in 1980 by disability scholars and activists. This model asserts that ​society's expectations for how the body should function create barriers that result in disability. According to this approach, ​disability exists only because society erects obstacles that disregard the disabled body, such as architecture, behavior, and ​habits (Taylor, 2005).

This model is particularly useful in highlighting how disabled artists are deliberately excluded from performing their own ​identities. Despite the presence of disabled characters in the theatrical canon, current American theatrical conventions ​prevent disabled artists and actors from participating in narratives around their own identities.

When a non-disabled actor mimics an impairment (known as cripping up), disability becomes a subject of interpretation.​ Without disabled artists to shape that interpretation, disability representation is reduced to a stereotypical, stagnant, ​and metaphorical portrayal.

When Madison Ferris played Laura Wingfield in a motorized ​scooter Iin 2017, some critics argued that director Sam Gold's ​interpretation of the play did not do justice to the original text ​(Johnson, 2018). This is because the metaphor of Laura's ​vulnerability was challenged by Ferris's personal experience ​with muscular dystrophy. In fact, Sandhal (2019) argues that ​when disabled actors are involved, the dramaturgy fails to ​separate the fiction of the story from the reality of the actors' ​lives, leading to questions about the nature of their disabilities ​outside of their roles.

If theatre’s rendition of disability is codified outside of the disabled ​body, then this only proves the social model’s point: disability is ​manufactured. It exists separately from medical diagnosis and can ​be reconfigured on any body.

“The Glass Menagerie” (2017). Photo by Julieta Cervantes.

Image Description: A young, white, blonde ​woman in a wheelchair with an older brunette ​women leaning on the handles, facing away ​from her.

the Cultural model

According to Jones (2022), the cultural model underlines the significance of cultural values, experiences, and resources in ​shaping attitudes towards disability and creativity in a given cultural setting. This approach recognizes the presence of a larger ​disabled community that suffers from ableism in society, as well as the individual needs and values of subcultures within that ​community. Additionally, the cultural model distinguishes between impairment and disability, where impairment denotes a ​bodily condition, and disability encompasses a broader understanding of the disability experience (Cheu, 2005).

In order to provide an accurate portrayal of disability, it's important to be mindful of pre-existing prejudices and to reveal their ​origins and shortcomings. It's equally important to recognize that individuals without disabilities perceive it through their own ​cultural lens.

Ryan J. Haddad, actor and playwright of Dark Disabled ​Stories, made it clear that his objective is not to describe ​what it's like to be disabled, but to encourage the ​audience to reflect on their own views of disability (Gans, ​2023). While the play incorporates theatrical elements, ​such as the casting of a second Deaf actor to play ​another Ryan, the focus is on nonfiction elements in ​order to maintain authenticity. Dramaturgically, every ​spectator brings their personal cultural understanding ​of disability into the space, and plays like Haddad's ​promote a dialogue between his disability culture and ​the audience's.

“Dark Disabled Stories” (2023). Photo by Joan Marcus.

Image Description: A young man sits on the floor, leaning on a ​wall, and another young man sits in a chair next to him with a ​walker off to the side.

There is a well-known saying in the autism community: "If you've met one autistic person, you've met ​one autistic person." This statement can be extended to all disabilities, and it's essential to consider ​this when exploring how disability intersects with live theater. The diversity of experiences within the ​disabled community makes it challenging to identify a perfect model of disability.

The presence of a disabled body on stage is a radical act that demands the acknowledgment of ​difference without negative consequences. Meaning, a recognition of how disabled bodies have ​been othered by stigmatizing narratives can make space for the possibility of difference as a ​progressive artistic tool (Reason, 2018).

Future Considerations

“The dramaturge must invest in a theatre that challenges the dominant social narratives by ​deconstructing traditional, top-down creative processes, by propagating community language, by ​adopting non-linear and non-normative temporalities, and by integrating the lived, biographical ​experiences of CRIP community members to manifest theatre that is radically integrated, intuitive, and ​speaks back to institutional oppressions surrounding disability.“

-Dramaturg Tonya Rae Chrystian

A dramaturg is no longer just a literary advisor or researcher. The dramaturg's involvement in the ​production as a whole can bring forth new insights into what a play needs. By prioritizing the actor's ​physical and mental health or the accessibility of the theater, the limited mindset of how theatre ​should be created can be challenged. These questions, necessary in disability theatre, can also be ​applied to non-disabled theatre, resulting in a more inclusive and diverse approach to the performing ​arts.

Citations

Black, R. S., & Pretes, L. (2007). Victims and Victors: Representation of physical disability on the silver screen. Research And Practice For Persons With ​Severe Disabilities, 32(1), 6683. https://doi.org/10.2511/rpsd.32.1.66

Center for Disease Control. (n.d.). Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic. Centers For Disease Control And Prevention; Centers for Disease Control and ​Prevention. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html

Cervantes, J. (2013). The Glass Menagerie [Photo]. New Mobility. https://newmobility.com/glass-menagerie-madison-ferris/

Cheu, J. (2005). Performing Disability, Problematizing Cure. In Bodies in commotion: Disability & Performance. University of Michigan Press. (1st ed., p. ​135-146). https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.92455

Chrystian, T. R. (2017). RelationCRIPs with Dramaturgy: The Intervention of the Dramaturge in Devised CRIP Theatre. Canadian Journal Of Disability ​Studies. https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v6i4.387

Couser, G. T. (2016). Disability, Life Narrative, and Representation. In The Disability Studies Reader (4th ed., p. 456-459). Taylor & Francis Group. ​https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315680668-43

Dirth, T. and Branscombe, N. (2017). Disability models affect disability policy support through awareness of structural discrimination. Journal of Social ​Issues, 73(2), 413-442. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12224

Donovan, R. (2023). Musical, Physical Difference, and Disability. In Broadway bodies. (1st ed., p. 207-238). ​https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197551073.001.0001

Johnson, K. (2018). Great reckonings in more accessible rooms. In The Routledge Handbook of Disability Arts, Culture, and Media (1st ed., p. 163-175). ​Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351254687

Citations

Jones, D. R. (2022). Reclaiming disabled creativity: How cultural models make legible the creativity of people with disabilities. Culture & Psychology, ​28(4), 491–505. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067x211066816

Krulwich, S. (2006). A Chorus Line [Photo]. The New York Times, New York, NY. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/theater/reviews/06chor.html

Love, G. (2019). Early Modern Theatre and the Figure of Disability. In Early Modern Theatre and the Figure of Disability (p. 1-38). Bloomsbury Publishing ​Plc. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350017238.0006

Marcus, J. (2023). Dark Disabled Stories [Photo]. American Theatre Magazine, New York, NY. https://www.americantheatre.org/2023/11/22/not-always-a-​punchline-ryan-j-haddads-dark-disabled-stories/

Mitchell, D. T., & Snyder, S. L. (2014). Narrative prosthesis: Disability and the dependencies of discourse. University of Michigan Press.

O’Reilly, K., & Weiler, C. (2020). (In)Tending to Provoke. Performance Research, 25(6-7), 142146. https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2020.1899624

Reason, M. (2018). Ways of watching; Five aesthetics of learning disability theatre. In The Routledge Handbook of Disability Arts, Culture, and Media (1st ​ed., p. 163-175). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351254687

Sandahl, C. (2005). The tyranny of neutral: disability and actor training. In Bodies in commotion: Disability & Performance. University of Michigan Press. ​(1st ed., n.p.). https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.92455

Sandhal, C. (2019). The difference disability makes. In C. Syler & D. Banks (Eds.), Casting A Movement (1st ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.

Shakespeare, W. (2008). The Tragedy of King Richard III (Illustrated). Oxford University Press.

Citations

Wells-Jensen, S., & Zuber, A. (2020). Models of Disability as Models of First Contact. Religions, 11(12), 676. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11120676

Williams, K. (2019). Demonstrable disability. Early Theatre, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.12745/et.22.2.3995