Theatre For All puts performers with disabilities in the spotlight

Dec. 01--If you're a person with a disability in the Wilmington area, you might feel like your live performance options are limited. A typical theater company isn't used to accommodating people with disabilities, and your physical or developmental disability might hamper your ability to overcome that.

Three years ago, Kim Henry and Gina Gambony started Theatre For All to create opportunities for people who want to perform, but whose disabilities can make it challenging for them to participate in live theater. The program is currently at capacity and is seeking to expand, and Henry said she sees Theatre For All as providing a much-needed outlet for disabled people.

"They're already asked to reign in so much in order to please us so-called regular folks, when so many of them really want to sing and dance all day long," Henry said. "A lot of them are very fearless as performers. I love working with people who want to work outside of the box, and these are people who work outside the box."

On Dec. 10 and 11 at TheateNOW, Theatre For All will present its winter show, "The Memory Book." Devised by the performers with help from Henry and Gambony -- who serve as co-directors and, with their cast, as co-performers -- it's about a grandmother and a grandchild who, when the power goes out one holiday season, turn to the family photo album. The show is then made up of scenes of each photo coming to life.

"It's from all of the (performers') histories," Henry said of the show's story, which came together over the past few months during weekly rehearsals.

"We've got a core group, who, theater is very important to them," Henry said. "There are no restrictions. You only have to be interested in theater."

Out of its 15 participants, who range in age from teens to 40s, about a third have been with Theatre For All since it was founded, Henry said. She and Gambony got the idea to form the company after working with special needs students at Laney High School. (Henry also runs a children's theater program called Love To Act.) Henry was inspired in part by seeing how performance could help bring disabled people out of their shells. One more than one occasion, after a student sang a song or would recite a poem from memory, teachers who had worked with these students for years would say, "I can't believe what I'm seeing," Henry said.

The troupe now rehearses most Saturdays, does two shows a year (Christmas and spring) and conducts a week-long summer camp. In devising a show, the performers explore for a few weeks before settling on a concept that Henry and Gambony make it into a script. The shows always incorporate movement and music, and Henry tries to work individual talents -- like poetry writing or music -- into the shows as well.

Limitations are also taken into account. One current student doesn't speak outside of his home, but the troupe struck on an idea: He could record his part away from the group setting for use in the show as an audio component while pantomiming during his other scenes.

"We've known him for three years and had never heard his voice," Henry said. "It's hard to explain how profound that is."

The performers Henry works with have a range of disabilities, she said. Some have autism, while others have Down's syndrome or cerebral palsy. Some are simply wheelchair-bound.

"Some folks, I'm not even sure what their disability is, and that's fine," said Dylan Patterson, a Theatre For All volunteer who's worked with the group since it formed.

Like any group of actors, the performers share lots of differences, as well as one key similarity: "We're there because we love theater," Henry said. "I see people learning theater, and with that comes an exploration of their talents, their skill set. They learn to give and take the spotlight, support each other."

Right now, Theatre For All is at a bit of a turning point. They could easily form another full, 15-person troupe, but lack the finances to make that feasible.

"We're at that precipice," she said. "We don't have the funds to embrace more students."

Patterson added that "the ideal, I think, is inclusion, where you don't have to have a special program," he said. "But that's not where were are right now."

Part of the company's challenge is getting the attention of both the theatrical community and the wider community.

"It's important that these people are acknowledged by their peers," Henry said. "We're trying to get away from, 'Oh, only the families go (to the shows).'"

Some people feel uncomfortable watching or looking at people with disabilities, Patterson said, which is another stigma the group is trying to combat. In this case, the performers are there because they want you to watch them -- watch them express emotion, make jokes, sing and more.

"Every show we've done, I've been really amazed at what we've put together," Patterson said. "You can tell authentic feedback when you get it, when people know that they've seen something good. After a while, the audience forgets that they're watching people with disabilities. They're just watching interesting people tell a good story."

At the end of the day, Henry said, other than being for adults who happen to be disabled, Theatre For All is no different from any other theater company.

"People say, 'Oh, you're so kind to work with people with disabilities,'" she said. "I say, 'No, I'm not kind. I'm creative, and these are some of the most creative people I've ever met.'"

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.

___

(c)2017 the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.)

Visit the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) at www.starnewsonline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.