Monday, December 03, 2018
Is The New York Theater Scene Serving Disabled Artists And The Disabled Population?
thetheatretimes.com: The New York theater scene is often thought of as the pinnacle of progression, where the newest shows that explore relevant topics are produced and then showcased around the world. Within the past few years, disability awareness and activism has sparked concerns about the lack of disability representation in media, and rightly so.
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I think that one of the more common things we often to see in the theater industry is that a company will cast a disabled actor and that's it, that's their great service to the industry, when really we need to be pushing not only who we cast, but the characters we are casting them in. Rarely does a disabled character get to be the star, just them, without a redemption arc, or more pity put on the people that are "forced" to take care of them. In more mainstream media, this problem was addressed with the book/movie "Me Before You," which showed the main character, with the disability, as just wanting to die. These skewed perceptions make it difficult for members of the disabled community to accurately share their stories and/or talents. Something I sincerely hope for is that more disabled actors can be welcomed onto the stage in roles that are daring, funny, three-dimensional, and progressive, so that people, like my twin brother who has Down Syndrome, can see themselves represented in meaningful positive ways in the arts. However, it doesn't just end there, we need to stop only casting disabled actors as disabled characters. I'm not trying to say that disabled actors shouldn't be playing disabled characters, I'm just trying to move this further and say that we should be casting disabled characters regardless on whether or not they are disabled. We need to start opening casting up, so that our art more heavily reflects our society.
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