Disability Theatre and Modern Drama: Recasting Modernism (Critical Companions)

Bertolt Brecht's silent Kattrin in Mother Courage, or the disability performance lessons of his Peachum in The Threepenny Opera; Tennessee Williams' limping Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and hard-of-hearing Bodey in A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur; Samuel Beckett's blind Hamm and his physically disabled parents Nagg and Nell in Endgame these and many further examples attest to disability's critical place in modern drama. This Companion explores how disability performance studies and theatre practice provoke new debate about the place of disability in these works. The book traces the local and international processes and tensions at play in disability theatre, and offers a critical investigation of the challenges its aesthetics pose to mainstream and traditional practice. The book's first part surveys disability theatre's primary principles, critical terms, internal debates and key challenges to theatre practice. Examining specific disability theatre productions of modern drama, it also suggests how disability has been re-envisaged and embodied on stage. In the book's second part, leading disability studies scholars and disability theatre practitioners analyse and creatively re-imagine modern drama, demonstrating how disability aesthetics press practitioners and scholars to rethink these works in generative, valuable and timely ways. -- Amazon.com Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION Organization of the Work PART I CRITICAL SURVEY OF DISABILITY THEATRE AESTHETICS, POLITICS, AND PRACTICES CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS DISABILITY THEATRE? Disability arts and culture Disability theatre Keywords CHAPTER 2 CRITICAL EMBODIMENT AND CASTING Embodying realism CHAPTER 3 STAGING INCLUSION CHAPTER 4 INHERITED PLAYS AND NEW APPROACHES Graeae Theatre Company: Origins Graeae’s Blood Wedding Graeae’s The Threepenny Opera Theatre Workshop Scotland and Beckett’s Endgame Conclusion PART II CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES CHAPTER 5 “EVERY MAN HIS SPECIALTY”: BECKETT, DISABILITY, AND DEPENDENCE I “To decompose is to live, too” II “What a curse, mobility!” III “No more nature” IV Dependent rational animals CHAPTER 6 RECLAIMING THE ORDINARY EXTRAORDINARY BODY: OR, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GLASS MENAGERIE FOR LITERARY DISABILITY STUDIES CHAPTER 7 ACCESS AESTHETICS AND MODERN DRAMA: AN INTERVIEW WITH JENNY SEALEY ON GRAEAE THEATRE COMPANY’S THE THREEPENNY OPERA AND BLOOD WEDDING CHAPTER 8 SHATTERING THE GLASS MENAGERIE NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS INDEX Introduction -- Critical Survey Of Disability Theatre Aesthetics, Politics, And Practices. What Is Disability Theatre? -- Critical Embodiment And Casting -- Staging Inclusion -- Inherited Plays And New Approaches -- Critical Perspectives. Every Man His Specialty: Beckett, Disability, And Dependence / Michael Davidson -- Reclaiming The Ordinary Extraordinary Body: Or, The Importance Of The Glass Menagerie For Literary Disability Studies / Ann M. Fox -- Access Aesthetics And Modern Drama: An Interview With Jenny Sealey On Graeae Theatre Company's The Threepenny Opera And Blood Wedding / Kirsty Johnston -- Shattering The Glass Menagerie / Terry Galloway, M. Shane Grant, Ben Gunter, And Carrie Sandahl. Kirsty Johnston. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This volume explores how disability performance studies and disability theatre practice provoke debate about the place of disability in these works. The author traces the local and international processes and tensions at play in disability theatre, and offers a critical investigation of the challenges disability theatre aesthetics pose to mainstream and traditional practice and critique A Critical Companion To Disability Theatre, Encompassing Both Disability Theatre Productions Of Modernist Plays And Criticism Of These Plays From A Disability Studies Perspective.