The voiceless, powerless, disabled body is framed as a burden, an object of ridicule, an object of disgust, or an object of pity. And those silent roles, removed from all meaningful action, are almost always played by able-bodied actors, which renders disabled people voiceless, powerless, and entirely invisible. When a silent disabled character appears on stage yet is marginalized from the action, the disabled body is minimized, a prop rather than a human being. In each of these cases, the disabled person is a symbol of something affecting the able-bodied people. I’ve seen scripts where a disabled person is on stage, but never given any lines or any meaningful action, often partially concealed– back to the audience, or partially behind a screen, for example. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen scripts with a disabled person who never appears on stage, only appearing in the play as a topic of conversation, a problem that must be solved by the able-bodied characters. Actor, storyteller, and performance artist Terri Lynne Hudson.ġ.
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