User:Tanzakili1/Theatre and disability

Disability Mimicry[ edit]
The practice of disability mimicry and the persistent use of disability as a narrative device has been present throughout history as, "Stories about disability in cultural productions document society’s reaction to and treatment of people with disabilities". Blake Howe is the editor of the Musical Representations of Disability database, which contains "musical works that feature a representation of disability or a disabled person", from 1400 to the present day. Disability theorist Tobin Siebers explains that, "non-disabled performers in disabled roles highlights their able-bodiedness and therefore constitutes the erasure of authentic disability."

Diverse and Inclusive Casting[ edit]
The group Opera and Disability (O&D), have two rules to follow when casting a role related to a marginalized population:"'1) As a general rule, when a character in opera is a member of a specific marginalized population, seek to cast a performer who has relevant personal experience of that same form of marginalization, and rule out this possibility before considering alternatives. 2) When a character in opera is either explicitly privileged, or the question of privilege/marginalization is not directly addressed in the content of the role, seek to cast both meritocratically and diversely, achieving a cast that is reflective not of the society that existed at the time of a work’s composition or of the era depicted in the story but of the society to which we aspire.'"