Abstract

Disability in performance has a long history, starting with fictional characters such as Shakespeare's Gloucester/Richard, progressing through the freak shows of the early twentieth century, and finally with artists such as Neil Marcus, Mat Fraser and Deaf West Theatre in the past twenty years. Looking to the work of disabled artists, activists, and theorists such as Petra Kuppers and Carrie Sandahl, I will examine the history of both disability in performance and the performance of disability. I will discuss my performance of Garret, a man with muscular dystrophy, in my original play, The Sick Parents Club. Through analysis of what playing a disability means both emotionally and physically, I will seek to answer the questions: How can an actor play a disabled character without defining them by their disability? Is it possible for a normative-bodied actor to approach authenticity playing a character with a disability?

Notes

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Graduation Date

2020

Semester

Spring

Advisor

White, Cynthia

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre; Acting Track

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008030; DP0023170

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0023170

Language

English

Release Date

May 2020

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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