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Hi, This discussion came to mind when I came across an article in the Times Higher Ed. Supplement, Aug.31st, pp.20-21, entitled 'Stage dogs are all bark, no bite' which, amongst other plays, reviews two productions from the Theatre Workshop's "Degenerate Festival", a season of disability artists' work. I am the Walrus by Nabil Shaban and Sealboy: Freak by Mat Fraser are highly praised by the reviewer, Greg Giesekam, who criticises the press for the lack of attention given to the Festival. If anyone would like a photocopy of the article let me know. Lynne Mitchell Colette Conroy wrote: > Hi, > > Questions about acting and performance seem to be a good way to play with > ideas about the limits of representation - questions about who may represent > whom, and what we mean by insisting upon a distinction between performance > and reality. For example, in theatre, audiences I often hear audience > members wonder whether > the individual actor who plays a disabled character is "really" disabled. I > have spoken to some people who believe that a wheelchair user who plays a > wheelchair using character is not acting, but is only 'being'. This betrays > an absolute unwillingness to engage with disabled people as artists and > creators of roles, and a tendency to see disabled performers as props or as > realistic set dressing. These are prejudices which all disabled theatre > artists grapple with. > > Most audiences get a thrill from seeing the complex exchange between > different aspects of the figure on stage, between actor and character. Joe > Bloggs the actor can simultaneously be seen as a Danish Prince and a well > known actor. > > There are a great many talented disabled performers, and it does seem unfair > that there are so few roles available for them. But this isn't caused by > non-disabled actors taking 'their' roles. It is caused by the entirely > arbitrary belief that any form of impairment on stage will detract from the > general reading of the role. Theatre scholars and practitioners are fond of > claiming that on stage any person or object can represent any character or > object. Although cross-gender casting is an accepted tool of theatrical > performance, it is not common for disabled performers to take roles which > are not specifically written as disabled characters. There is no reason why > Hamlet shouldn't be played by a disabled person, is there? > > Colette. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Smith, Glenn" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 3:39 PM > Subject: Re: Moulin Rouge - without Crips? > > I don't think it matters that the actor or actress is disabled - surely, > like research, if non-disabled people can portray and use their own > experiences to get the audience to engage with them and their empathy, that > is fine. > > That is, after all, what acting has always been about. > > I'm not quite sure that seeing real pain or dramatic pain means anything > more profound...after all we see scenes of real pain with famines and war on > tv but do we respond differently ? I think not - listening to many people > they just switch off because they can't watch real people suffering or > making them have to deal with uncomfortable feelings they do not have to > deal with, or they distance themselves from what they are seeing > psychologically through the medium of the screen - which misses the point of > portraying the 'real' in the first place. > > Glenn. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Laurence Bathurst [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: 03 September 2001 18:47 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Moulin Rouge - without Crips? > > Hi list > > Same argument about straight actors playing gay or lesbian roles. There > seems to be a fine line between representation and parody and between > 'staged' sympathy and actual sympathy. I wonder if anyone has any comments > about the Iranian film the name of which eludes me but has something to do > with drunk horses. I haven't seen it yet but it is semi-documentary in that > the characters are not played by actors. There is a boy with a disability > who plays a boy with a disability which apparently, from what I hear, shows > some of the very real pain that the boy experiences. That is, the things > you see are actual - not contrived. What sort of impact does this have on > its audience? > > At 06:54 AM 4/09/2001 +1000, you wrote: > >And now it seems, Toulouse Lautrec is back in the news in Moulin Rouge - > >the musical. This time the stunted genius is played by the non-disabled > >though slightly built John Leguizamo, who accentuates our herošs lisp > >possibly to underline his disabled status. In the original 50s version TL's > >role was taken by Jose Farrer who stumped around painfully on his > knees, > >his feet tied to the back of his thighs. Therešs not so much obvious > >disability in the remake though, and the playing of a disabled artist by an > >able-bodied actor is bound reopen the debate about whether disabled actors > >should be employed to play disabled parts. What do list members think? > > > > > > > >Best wishes, > > > > > >Michael Morgan > >2 Glenhill Park > >Glen Rd. > >Belfast > >BT11 8GB > >Tel: 028 9030 2944 > >Fax: 028 9030 2973 > >Email: [log in to unmask] > > > >________________End of message______________________ > > > >Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List > >are now located at: > > > >www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html > > > >You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. > > ________________End of message______________________ > > Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List > are now located at: > > www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html > > You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. > > ________________End of message______________________ > > Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List > are now located at: > > www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html > > You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. > > ________________End of message______________________ > > Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List > are now located at: > > www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html > > You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. -- Lynne Mitchell Research Fellow OCSD (Oxford Centre for Sustainable Development):Cities School of Architecture Oxford Brookes University Gipsy Lane Campus Headington Oxford OX3 0BP Tel: 01865 484296 Fax: 01865 483298 ________________End of message______________________ Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List are now located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.