Abstract
This chapter examines the nature and role of “disability theatre” in Global South contexts, through bringing together the voices of two scholars in disability studies, with that of the chief executive of a major Cape Town theatre complex, who is herself a disabled person. After exploring definitions of disability theatre, the question of its relevance to disability liberation in the postcolonial context is examined. Connections are made between colonisation based on geography, race, culture, and disability and the potential of performance art for expunging these “occupations”. Modes of exclusion of disability from the performing arts are discussed. Decolonisation is understood as taking ownership of representations of human experiences which are “always already” combinations of cultural and linguistic traditions. Disability theatre is viewed as capable of demythologising disability, “de-ablising” performance art, and promoting disability representation.
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Hunt, X., Watermeyer, B., le Roux, M. (2019). Disability, Theatre, and Postcoloniality: Reflections on the Politics of Performance. In: Watermeyer, B., McKenzie, J., Swartz, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Disability and Citizenship in the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74675-3_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74675-3_16
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