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New York, 5:11 PM
Tue Dec 15
73 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/09/09
12/09/09
10/30/09
My problem with saying, oh this role should be played by someone who's "disabled" is that it requires me to be separated from "normal." am I disabled if I can read, but can't drive or walk by myself? am i disabled if i've walked with forearm crutches for a year now, but hope to someday walk without them again?
I acted and danced in high school and college, before my rheumatological disease completely disrupted my life (even when my legs do work, cerebral vasculitis has removed my muscle memory of ballet), and I ended up doing mostly dance because my choreographer had diabetes and understood that i would never bail on a show, vs. everyone else who never bothered to ask.
so i'm all for blind casting...but by that i mean, not taking into account what isn't physically necessary for the part. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
The best actor or actress for a job is the one who can convey that role believably to the widest possible audience. There are always experts in something-or-other who will notice the shortcomings of the actor's art. Someone below made the very good observation that to her, hearing actors are never believable when they do sign language - it's choppy and awkward and nuances of expression are lost. She is an expert in sign language and notices the unreality, the acting, that most of us don't notice. New Orleanians (I am one) are always rolling our eyes at the accents of actresess portraying Blanche Dubois, for instance, but no doubt the rest of the world isn't. Military history experts have plenty to scoff about in costumes and manners on stage and screen, but the rest of us don't. Of course any good actor or director tries for the best possible accuracy, but no one can be all things to all people.
Casting always, or usually, involves intelligent give-and-take. One actor looks the part perfectly, another, who looks most unlike the part is a better actor. It all depends on the play and the role and the rest of the cast and the director's vision - how can he or she work with the strengths and weaknesses of all the cast to achieve the vision and stage the best possible performance? That's not the audience's decision to make until the performance..
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10/30/09
To say it is an issue of the other actors comfort or ease seems short-sighted when people like Sharon Jensen are fighting for long-term goals of advancement. People with disabilities need the rest of the world to understand that, yes, their full participation may require a little extra effort for all of us, but it is the humane course of action, and ideally, it will make all of our lives richer to include these different experiences.
To say the director should be able to cast whomever he wants. . .yes, he should, but we should also take a good hard look at the ableist casting practices that keep characters AND actors with disabilities off of our screens.
These arguments for why the play should not feature a disabled actor are straw men that people with disabilities have been trying to knock down for a long time, and I am shocked that so many of the well-read, thoughtful commenters on Jezebel are uninitiated about the terms and parameters of this struggle. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
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10/30/09
I must question your assumption that a DB actress would have a hard time with the body language. Perhaps you are right, there are very few qualified DB actresses out there who can portray the body language appropriately. On the other hand, wouldn't a DB actress understand the body language dynamic even BETTER than a hearing-sighted actress? #helenkellerabigailbreslin
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P.S. – for those who brought up concerns that the monetary demands of hiring interpreters to help with the deaf actor in a hearing cast may not be feasible, there are ways around it. Smaller theatre groups such as Deaf West Theatre that feature "mixed" casts have fully managed to do so – I am fully confident this production can do the same. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
I am not automatically opposed to hearing-sighted actors playing a deaf-blind character. Just so that everyone knows, the proper terminology is deaf-blind or DB, not deaf AND blind. (not directed to you justeking). But a few things about this comment thread and the play offend me...
1. There is the automatic assumption that nobody will come to a play, however well-acted, because the main character is an unknown AND deaf-blind (or whatever disability the actress has). PUH-LEZE. That's how a lot of breakout stars become famous. This is a stupid assumption.
2. Just because the DB actress may require an interpreter makes the whole thing financially infeasible. Like the commenter above said, there are creative ways around the problem. That's real life, and if you want to include people in mainstream society (equal rights and all), you have to make accommodations. Sorry if that's off-putting, but it's not our job to make everyone comfortable.
On a different note, I really hope this production hires a DB woman to help Abigail Breslin truly 'act' DB. Otherwise, this play will be horrible because a hearing-sighted person may transpose his or her idea of what DB is (probably inaccurately) onto the role. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
That being said, there was a girl in the year above me at my performing arts high school who was a dance major with a hearing impairment. She was in the highest levels and performed to the standard of everyone else in her class, and also performed in an outside hip-hop group that's well-known in our city. And in the musical I'm in at my college now, one of our ensemble members has a disability that affects his movement. Despite the fact that he uses a wheelchair to get around our sprawling campus, he comes to rehearsals and dances for four hours with everyone else. I can't see a professional producer taking a chance on a performer who needs an aid to walk, even if he's ridiculously talented and can work to the standard that everyone else does. It's sad that that's the reality in the professional world... #helenkellerabigailbreslin
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This seems like a slippery slope, no? #helenkellerabigailbreslin
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10/30/09
The only disabled actor I can think of who works regularly is Marlee Matlin. It seems most of the time, parts are adjusted for her because the producers want her but for an Academy Award winner she doesn't work that much. Without Children of a Lesser God, I doubt she ever would have gotten regular work. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
The whole play was little vignettes about being deaf-blind. Just shows that with some clever thinking, you can make a play work even with lots of actors with multiple disabilities.
I know it's a special case, but it was still awesome so I wanted to mention it. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
In this particular instance, at the very least blind and/or deaf actresses should have been given the chance to audition - I'm not saying the role should only have gone to such an actress if she wasn't right for the part, but it's insulting to not consider it. The director is very explicit that he wanted a "name," which to me sounds like he didn't even consider hiring a disabled actress, since there are almost none with the starpower he was looking for. I understand financial considerations, but it's discriminatory - disabled individuals will never become famous if we don't give them opportunities, and a play about a well-known disabled individual is a perfect opportunity to give them that chance. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
Eh. I would say it was discriminatory if he had also considered non-famous, non-disabled actresses for the part -- but he was adamant that he wanted a famous actress, not that he wanted a non-disabled actress. In this case, I don't think blind and deaf actresses are being discriminated against any more than struggling actresses looking for their big breaks. #helenkellerabigailbreslin
10/30/09
10/30/09
Of course there are not many "big name" actors with disabilities - but doesn't this casting decision just serve to perpetuate that inequality? If a person with disabilities cannot even get cast to play a person with disabilities, how do we ever expect to have a big name star with disabilities? #helenkellerabigailbreslin