The misconception that disability equates with inferiority dates back to antiquity. However, the prejudice had its most fearful and widespread manifestation in Nazi Germany during World War II when those with disabilities were systematically euthanized. Given such history, it is not so surprising that sixty years on, disabled members of the community still face so many obstacles in the battle to have their diversity respected.
The correlating attitude, which flows from negative stereotypes of disability, is that disability arts – art produced by people who have a disability of some kind – must be second-rate art. But a paper published on the National Endowment for the Arts website by renowned actor, writer and activist Victoria Ann Lewis, offers a different take. In a passionate discussion of theater as it relates to disability, she writes: “The secret is that the disability movement offers a fierce critique of the nature of power in this country, a critique as disturbing and potentially healing as that of communities of color, the women’s movement, or gays and lesbians. Theater as an institution mimics the prevailing order, which means, not to beat a dead horse, that decision-making rests predominantly in the hands of white, privileged, able-bodied males. But theater as an art form depends on power from a different source — the passion and vision of the creative voice which knows no boundary of race, gender, class or physical ability.”
