Theater By The Blind a retrospective look at an off-Broadway troupe, an international blind theater festival, and the making of disability culture
Main Article Content
Keywords
blind theater, gaze, audio description
Abstract
This historical, ethnographic account examines Theater By The Blind from 2000-2005 and the following disability-art themes: 1) identity politics and authenticity/representation; 2) audio description and the Blind In Theatre (BIT) Festival; 3) gaze and resistance. This paper historically documents an emergent cultural movement, and highlights the powerful cultural work of blind theater to challenge stereotypes.
Theater By The Blind: A Retrospective Look at an Off-Broadway Troupe, an International Blind Theater Festival, and the Making of Disability Culture by Elaine Gerber is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work at https://rdsjournal.org. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://www.rds.hawaii.edu.
References
Boal, A. (1985). Theatre of the oppressed. Theatre Communications Group.
Boal, A. (1995). The rainbow of desire: The Boal method of theatre and therapy.
Adrian Jackson, translator. Routledge.
Boal, A. (1999). Legislative theatre: Using performance to make politics. Adrian Jackson, translator. Routledge.
Brune, J. A. and Wilson, D. J., (Eds) (2013). Disability and passing: Blurring the lines of identity. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Charlton, J. I. (2000). Nothing about us without us, disability oppression and empowerment. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Davis, L. (2009, updated 2011). Let actors with disabilities play characters with disabilities. The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/lennard-davis/let-actors-with-disabilit_b_380266.html.
Evans, D. (2015). #FilmDis discusses: What is #cripface and why is discussing it important? storify.com/dominickevans/filmdis-discusses-what-is-cripface-and-why-is-dis.
Fahy, T.R. & King, K. (Eds) (2002). Peering behind the curtain: disability, illness, and the extraordinary body in contemporary theater. Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1975). The birth of the clinic: an Archeology of medical perception. (A. M. Sheridan Smith, trans.) Vintage Books.
Fox, A. M. & Lipkin, J. (2002). Res(Crip)ting feminist theater through disability theater: Selections from the DisAbility Project. Feminist Disability Studies, special issue of NWSA Journal, 14(3), 77-98. Project Muse, muse.jhu.edu/article/37969.
Fryer, L. (2018). Staging the audio describer: an Exploration of integrated audio description. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(3). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6490
Garland Thompson, R. (1997). Extraordinary bodies: Figuring physical disability in American culture and literature. Columbia University Press.
Harris, S. J. (2014). Able-Bodied actors and disability drag: Why disabled roles are only for disabled performers. Balder and Dash. http://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/disabled-roles-disabled-performers.
Kleege, G. (2016). Audio Description Described: Current Standards, Future Innovations, Larger Implications. Representations, 135(1), Summer: 89-101. https://doi.org/10.1525/rep.2016.135.1.89
Kleege, G. & Wallin, S. (2015). Audio Description as a Pedagogical Tool. Disability Studies Quarterly, 35(2). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v35i2.4622
Kuppers, P. (2003). Disability and contemporary performance: Bodies on edge. Routledge.
Kuppers, P. (2014). Studying disability arts and culture: an Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan.
Lewis, V. A. (2004). The theatrical landscape of disability. Disability Studies Quarterly, 24(3), Summer. https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v24i3.511
Manning, L. (n.d.) “Weights.” Bridge Multimedia. Retrieved from www.bridgemultimedia.com/weights.php.
“Our Founder,” (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.tbtb.org/who-we-are/founder.html.
Pao, A. C. (2011). No safe spaces: Re-casting race, ethnicity, and nationality in American theater. The University of Michigan Press.
Rodas, J. M. (2015). YouDescribe: Testing Crowd-sourced Video Description for Service Learning at the City University of New York. The Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy.
https://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/youdescribe-testing-crowd-sourced-video-description-for-service-learning-at-the-city-university-of-new-york/.
Sandahl, C. & Auslander, P. (2005). Bodies in commotion: Disability and performance. University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.92455
Schweik, S. M. (2009). The ugly laws. NYU Press.
Scott, R. A. (1981). The making of blind men: A study of adult socialization. Transaction Publishers.
Shakespeare, T. (2014). The social model of disability. In, L. Davis (Ed.), The Disability Studies Reader, 4th Edition (Ch 16, pp214-221). Routledge.
Snyder, J. (2014). The visual mad
e verbal: A comprehensive training manual and guide to the history and applications of audio description. Dog Ear Publishing, LLC.
Sutton-Brown, C. A. (2014). Photovoice: A methodological guide. Photography and Culture, 7(2): 169-185, DOI: 10.2752/175145214X13999922103165
Thompson, H. (2018). Audio description: Turning access to film into cinema art. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(3). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6487
Thompson, H. & Warne, V. (2018). Blindness arts: An introduction. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(3). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6480
Wang, C. C. (1999). Photovoice: A participatory action research strategy applied to women’s health. Journal of Women’s Health, 8(2), 185–192. doi: 10.1089/jwh.1999.8.185
Weber, B. (2015). Ike Schambelan, Director who brought disabled artists to the stage, dies at 75. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/arts/ike-schambelan-director-who-brought-disabled-artists-to-the-stage-dies-at-75.html
Boal, A. (1995). The rainbow of desire: The Boal method of theatre and therapy.
Adrian Jackson, translator. Routledge.
Boal, A. (1999). Legislative theatre: Using performance to make politics. Adrian Jackson, translator. Routledge.
Brune, J. A. and Wilson, D. J., (Eds) (2013). Disability and passing: Blurring the lines of identity. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Charlton, J. I. (2000). Nothing about us without us, disability oppression and empowerment. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Davis, L. (2009, updated 2011). Let actors with disabilities play characters with disabilities. The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/lennard-davis/let-actors-with-disabilit_b_380266.html.
Evans, D. (2015). #FilmDis discusses: What is #cripface and why is discussing it important? storify.com/dominickevans/filmdis-discusses-what-is-cripface-and-why-is-dis.
Fahy, T.R. & King, K. (Eds) (2002). Peering behind the curtain: disability, illness, and the extraordinary body in contemporary theater. Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1975). The birth of the clinic: an Archeology of medical perception. (A. M. Sheridan Smith, trans.) Vintage Books.
Fox, A. M. & Lipkin, J. (2002). Res(Crip)ting feminist theater through disability theater: Selections from the DisAbility Project. Feminist Disability Studies, special issue of NWSA Journal, 14(3), 77-98. Project Muse, muse.jhu.edu/article/37969.
Fryer, L. (2018). Staging the audio describer: an Exploration of integrated audio description. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(3). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6490
Garland Thompson, R. (1997). Extraordinary bodies: Figuring physical disability in American culture and literature. Columbia University Press.
Harris, S. J. (2014). Able-Bodied actors and disability drag: Why disabled roles are only for disabled performers. Balder and Dash. http://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/disabled-roles-disabled-performers.
Kleege, G. (2016). Audio Description Described: Current Standards, Future Innovations, Larger Implications. Representations, 135(1), Summer: 89-101. https://doi.org/10.1525/rep.2016.135.1.89
Kleege, G. & Wallin, S. (2015). Audio Description as a Pedagogical Tool. Disability Studies Quarterly, 35(2). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v35i2.4622
Kuppers, P. (2003). Disability and contemporary performance: Bodies on edge. Routledge.
Kuppers, P. (2014). Studying disability arts and culture: an Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan.
Lewis, V. A. (2004). The theatrical landscape of disability. Disability Studies Quarterly, 24(3), Summer. https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v24i3.511
Manning, L. (n.d.) “Weights.” Bridge Multimedia. Retrieved from www.bridgemultimedia.com/weights.php.
“Our Founder,” (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.tbtb.org/who-we-are/founder.html.
Pao, A. C. (2011). No safe spaces: Re-casting race, ethnicity, and nationality in American theater. The University of Michigan Press.
Rodas, J. M. (2015). YouDescribe: Testing Crowd-sourced Video Description for Service Learning at the City University of New York. The Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy.
https://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/youdescribe-testing-crowd-sourced-video-description-for-service-learning-at-the-city-university-of-new-york/.
Sandahl, C. & Auslander, P. (2005). Bodies in commotion: Disability and performance. University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.92455
Schweik, S. M. (2009). The ugly laws. NYU Press.
Scott, R. A. (1981). The making of blind men: A study of adult socialization. Transaction Publishers.
Shakespeare, T. (2014). The social model of disability. In, L. Davis (Ed.), The Disability Studies Reader, 4th Edition (Ch 16, pp214-221). Routledge.
Snyder, J. (2014). The visual mad
e verbal: A comprehensive training manual and guide to the history and applications of audio description. Dog Ear Publishing, LLC.
Sutton-Brown, C. A. (2014). Photovoice: A methodological guide. Photography and Culture, 7(2): 169-185, DOI: 10.2752/175145214X13999922103165
Thompson, H. (2018). Audio description: Turning access to film into cinema art. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(3). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6487
Thompson, H. & Warne, V. (2018). Blindness arts: An introduction. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(3). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v38i3.6480
Wang, C. C. (1999). Photovoice: A participatory action research strategy applied to women’s health. Journal of Women’s Health, 8(2), 185–192. doi: 10.1089/jwh.1999.8.185
Weber, B. (2015). Ike Schambelan, Director who brought disabled artists to the stage, dies at 75. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/arts/ike-schambelan-director-who-brought-disabled-artists-to-the-stage-dies-at-75.html
Article Sidebar
Published
Jul 30, 2020
Article Details
Section
Research Articles and Essays
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
RDS Journal is an open-access journal, create a free account to read full articles and to submit a proposal. For visual arts and multimedia, submission will be considered evidence that you are offering RDS the right to display your work without penalty, compensation or royalties.