Theatres of Learning Disability: Good, Bad, or Plain Ugly?

by Matt Hargrave

Overview

Winner of the TaPRA New Career Research in Theatre/Performance Prize 2016

This is the first scholarly book to focus exclusively on theatre and learning disability as theatre, rather than advocacy or therapy. Hargrave provocatively realigns the - hitherto unvoiced - assumptions that underpin such practice and proposes that learning disabled artists have earned the right to full critical review.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349700233
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	02/19/2016
Edition description:	1st ed. 2015
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Matt Hargrave is Senior Lecturer in Drama and Applied Theatre at the University of Northumbria, UK. As a writer and theatre practitioner he has worked with many leading theatres and cultural providers including Northern Stage, New Writing North, Mind the Gap, National Association of Youth Theatres, The Forge Arts and Education Agency, Helix Arts, Sheffield Crucible, Dead Earnest Theatre, and Arts Council England. His previous publications include articles in journals such as Theatre, Dance and Performance Training and Research in Drama Education.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Tim Wheeler Acknowledgements Prologue: Of moths and methods PART I: THE SURROGATE 1. The end of disability arts: theatre, disability and the social model 2. Pure products go crazy: the aesthetic value of learning disability 3. On quality: disability and aesthetic judgements 4. Genealogies: the cultural faces of learning disability PART II: A PROPER ACTOR 5. Nobody's Perfect: disability identity as masquerade 6. The uncanny return of Boo Radley: disability, dramaturgy and reception Conclusion Envoi: The Bartleby Parallax Sources and bibliography Appendix Notes Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

'Matt Hargrave's new book provides an outstanding overview and in-depth analysis of the different theatres of learning disability. It demonstrates an acute sensitivity to the social, political and aesthetic questions raised by practitioners of what has emerged as an important area of contemporary theatre and performance. Theatres of Learning Disability pushes the boundaries of the field and asks the difficult questions about how we discuss and value the artistry of actors, creators and participants.' - James Thompson, University of Manchester, UK

Editorial Reviews

Theatres of Learning Disability is well-organized, clearly written, and carefully supported by disability theory, performance theory, and detailed evidence from chosen productions, including Hargrave’s own reactions to the work. … Theatres of Learning Disability is an important advancement in the underdeveloped field of disability and performance, effectively arguing how we can and must critically engage with disability art at the level of craft and aesthetics.” (Scott Wallin, The Drama Review, Vol. 61 (1), 2017)

“Hargrave’s book examines the field of theatrical practices involving actors with learning disabilities … . Hargrave’s aim is to establish a theoretical approach that goes beyond therapeutic or social frameworks and instead conceives of this type ofwork as a professional art practice. … Hargrave’s exclusive focus on the aesthetics of theatres of learning disability is still exceptional in the emerging specialist field of disability and performance … .” (Sarah Marinucci, Theatre Research International, Vol. 41 (2), July, 2016)

From the Publisher