At the Intersection of Disability and Drama

John Michael Sefel, MFA, PhD, is a Melton Center fellow and co-editor of Texas Theatre Journal. His original plays have been performed in New York City, Boston, and at regional theatres and colleges in several states. He lives in Berkley, Michigan. Amanda Slamcik Lassetter, MA, is a theatre faculty member at Baylor University, co-editor for Texas Theatre Journal, and executive board member for Therapy Center Stage Productions, a non-profit focused on mental health and healing through the creative and dramatic arts. Jill Summerville, PhD, is a performer, playwright, and scholar. Her research explores the complexities of putting actors with disabilities onstage.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Foreword (Calvin Arium)

Preface

Introduction (John Michael Sefel)

Part One—First Person Singular

STIFF (Sherry Jo Ward)

The 2018 Invisible Man (Leroy F. Moore, Jr.)

An Open Letter to the Usher at the Theatre Who Asked Me if I Was “the Sick Girl” (Amy Oestreicher)

RPM (Graham Bryant)

Whack Job (Kate Devorak)

I Come from Hoarders (Carly Jo Geer)

A Performer’s Monologue (Connor Long)

Why This Monologue Isn’t Memorized (A True Story) (Kurt Sass)

Tinted (Amy Bethan Evans)

Invisidisability (Anonymous)

Crooked (seeley quest)

Last Train In (Adam Grant Warren)

Part Two—Past Is Present

The Last Reading of Charlotte Cushman (Carolyn Gage)

Tales of My Uncle (Monica Raymond)

Gramp (Mandy Fox)

Dyscalculia (Katrina Hall)

Part Three—Alone, Together

The Brechtones (Billy Butler)

Hiccups (Ben Rosenblatt)

Ex/centric Fixations Project (Bree Hadley)

The Plague Plays (Bradley Cherna)

Still Standing (Anita Hollander)

Afterword (John Michael Sefel)

About the Contributors

Index