Staging accessibility: Collective stories of Relaxed Performance

Jones, C. T., Collins, K., & Rice, C. (2022). Staging accessibility: Collective stories of Relaxed Performance. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569783.2022.2029388

Abstract

On the premise that performances and writing can be staged, and that no staging is ever innocent, we tell two unresolved, wonder- oriented phenomenological stories of Relaxed Performances (RP) that reveal ‘affective trouble’: the delivery of a ‘cripped’ fashion show at a university and a church-based ‘relaxed’ choir performance. We compose these narratives from the perspectives of eight participants in collaboration across three universities in Ontario, Canada. These RP moments reveal insights into disability arts as an emotive challenge to so-called proper comportment and introduce new, politicised elements of wonder about what it means to strive for accessible performance.