A stage of hope
March 28th, 2008
All but 5 of 41 cast members have developmental disabilities, but each one feels ‘Footloose’
An intimate and perceptive piece by Drew Jubera in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about a local theater production starring people with intellectual disabilities.
Some quotes to ponder:
“I’m a bagger by morning, an actor at night.” Katie Rouille, 27
“A lot of people say I can’t do something, and I just say I can. I’m determined that way.” Cynthia Outman, 31, who has Down syndrome
“I do it for the same reason real actors do it: to get away from who I am and be someone else. It’s challenging every day to do things. But this shows people with disabilities ‘you can do it.’ Linda Danzig, 57
“These are the people behind the bakery counter in Publix or bagging your groceries who you may not have noticed until they came here and are under the lights. It does for them what theater does for anybody. The shy checkout girl who takes a theater class and finds her voice.” Kim Goodfriend, the theater’s founding producer
“There are more similarities than differences. Every actor is sensitive. They’re ripping their chest cavity open and exposing themselves to failure. ” Dina Shadwell, the theater’s director
This entry was posted
on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 2:09 pm and is filed under Down syndrome, NOT2BEMISSED, arts/music, autism, fragile x, theater.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Email This Post
Our RSS Feed
March 31st, 2008 at 6:53 am
This was a wonderful show. Anyone who thinks people with disabilities “suffer” ought to see it. Not one of the actors on stage was suffering. Rather, they were enjoying life as much as anyone on this planet.