AMERICAN THEATRE: Almost alone among American presidents, our 32nd, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is still remembered not for a single incident or tic but for a cluster of iconic landmarks and attributes: the New Deal and World War II, the ivory cigarette holder and pince-nez glasses, fireside chats in an arch mid-Atlantic accent, the wheelchair.
1 comment:
I found this article to be really interesting. I think the concept of the show - the crowd work, the interactivity, the accommodations towards the disability community - to be both intriguing and politically important. I think that the concept of altering an actual person by bringing their disability to the forefront of their character - not to belittle or ridicule them, but to showcase their ties to a specific community and thus reveal a deeper facet of their personality - to be a really delicate situation, though one I think the show pulled off well. To be honest, I had little idea that FDR was in a wheelchair for the entirety of his presidency. For so long, disabilities were always something to be ashamed of or hidden from the public; FDR concealed his paralysis, and took lengthy measures to keep it out of the press. However, I think this show is trying both to de-stigmatize wheelchair use, and bring up more ideas around his politics; as a whole, I think it’s an incredibly potent play right now, and I hope that it finds the success it deserves!
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