Access Living, Friday September 24, 2010
Walking through the doors of Access Living to attend the Disability Culture Cabaret last Friday, we had no idea what to expect. None of us really knew what a cabaret was but we suspected it had something to do with singing and dancing. We were delighted to find out there was, indeed, some singing and dancing but so much more!
The line-up included eight performances from Beth Finke, Bartholomew Thomas, Riva Lehrer, Pennie Brinson, Rob Rotman, Carrie Kaufman, Rahnee Patrick with Mike Irvin, and Laurence Clark. The performances ranged from essays, poems, stories, songs, and comedy that expressed and celebrated the experience of having a disability. It was great to see Beth Finke and Riva Lehrer-- both told narrative stories that drew the audience in and allowed us to laugh with them as figured out their world as a visually impaired woman and an adolescent with a disability. The final two performances from Rahnee Patrick and Laurence Clark filled the whole room with laughter as they poked fun at the general public's ignorance and awkwardness when interacting with people with disabilities.
Below is a photo of Rahnee Patrick, as she delivers her bitingly sarcastic performance about how to talk to the handicapable, which included speaking in a high-pitched voice, using names like Chuck, and, of course, giving them money among other faux-pas.
The last performance was from the British comedian, Laurence Clark, who demonstrated how people just can't resist giving a person in a wheelchair money even if he begs them not to or is holding a sign that says "Kill the Puppies!" It's true! Check out this video.
It was a truly an entertaining evening! We all left in good spirits and happy we were able to attend the show. Be sure to check the calendar below for more upcoming disability culture events.
No comments:
Post a Comment