Why inherited distance and responses to inexperience of disability matters in theatre practice

This paper considers how lived experience of disability in the theatre industry raises issues of inclusion, access, and participation that cross disciplinary boundaries. Drawing on an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis study with professional actors and directors in Arts Council England’s most highly funded theatres, it adds detail to what is happening on the ground in theatre. It queries how learning from disability in the theatre industry might be translated by practitioners in tackling exclusion and enhancing inclusion in applied and social theatre contexts. Sharing responsibility for accessibility in practice goes beyond logistical adjustments, instead, the paper explores the significance of personal understandings of disability and how its history and politics are interpreted in practice. Although referring to race, Sara Ahmed offers helpful parallels when considering personal positioning in a process of engagement with disability in theatre, noting how ‘we inherit proximities’ to people who are different to ourselves (2007, p.155). Ahmed clarifies, ‘this is an inheritance that can be refused, and which does not fully determine a course of action’ (2007, p.155). Actors and directors in the theatre industry recognise inherited distance from disability as relevant, a gap needing to be bridged. Their implicit stories shared in this paper reveal how individuals working in theatre respond to inexperience of disability and weigh responsibility for learning from disability and about accessibility, representation, language, and effective collaboration. This paper, therefore, aims to draw attention to lived experiences of disability and theatre practice as a route to understanding complex issues of power and participation in theatre across disabled and non-disabled communities. As academics, researchers, and practitioners, we are encouraged to refuse an inheritance of distance and move towards disability experience in some way.