By Elizabeth M. Treston
A scene from Krankenhaus Blues at the Visible Theatre in New York City.
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New York City restaurants and bars are teeming with actors and writers. They all have dreams of making it to Broadway. They call it their “craft.” I find actors to be traveling on a different plane. They are always observing, finding in the mundane a comical scene or dramatic license few of us can envision. They are able to virtually touch emotion. They place their fingertips right on the edge of your heart and make it race or slow down with their ability to bring you “into the moment.”
If you live in or plan to visit the New York City area this month, chances are a night of theatre is in your itinerary. You’ll make your way to the Theatre District to indulge in the latest lavish musical productions. Let me take you off the road a bit… down a few side streets to the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre on West 36th Street. To the latest productions of a company called Visible Theatre, a group of actors representing us, people with disabilities.
They’re persons with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D), gay, straight, black, and white, women, men, zealots, urban and suburban, even Republicans and Democrats. They cover it all. They represent truth when other forms of entertainment gloss over disability issues with sugar and calls for inspiration. When asked if they felt they were an inspiration, ensemble member Eugenia Francis laughed and said, “Who you kiddin’?” They do not sugarcoat anything with their performances.
The founder and artistic director of Visible Theatre is Krista Smith. Visible Theatre “wholistically” (Smith’s word to encompass her vision), cultivates artists and incubates original work, celebrating alternative perspectives, challenging perceptions and providing unique insight into the human condition. Our condition.
This fall the theatre company will be presenting two works, which are dedicated to the memory of a Visible board member, friend and playwright, John Belluso. One is Krankenhaus Blues, a play written by Sam Forman. It is a frightening and funny play about disability issues, genocide, and the grim realities of show business. A playwright, an actress and a clown are locked in a Nazi asylum for reasons beyond their comprehension. Moving effortlessly between 1930′s Berlin and present day New York City, the characters make great efforts to connect with each other as they confront their existentially bleak surroundings.
The other is, True Story Project: SEX, conceived and directed by Krista Smith, co-directed by Laura Silence, and written by the ensemble cast. “People perceive those with disabilities as asexual” says Gregg Mozgala, a head writer and actor who happens to have cerebral palsy. “This project demonstrates that we’re not only sexual beings; we’re just as screwed up as everyone else when it comes to sex.” The True Story Project: SEX features a profoundly diverse ensemble of nine actors, including actors with disabilities, who take turns revealing true life stories that explore sex and sexuality in a wide range of styles. The stories shift in subject matter and treatment from outrageously funny to grievously stark and engrossingly matter-of-fact.
The five-week performance schedule (October 5 through November 5) for Krankenhaus Blues will be: Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Tickets will be $20.00. The student and senior rate will be $15.00. TDF vouchers will be accepted. For Tickets call, SmartTix at 212-868-4444 The True Story Project: SEX premieres Wednesday, October 4 at 8:00 p.m. and then runs every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. and on Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. to November 4.
For FREE Tickets to TSP: SEX, call the Visible Theatre Ticket hotline at: Call 212-479-8418. Reservations are required.
Both works will be at Dorothy Strelsin Theatre at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues).
For more information, visit www.visibletheatre.org
Elizabeth M. Treston is a freelance writer who lives on Long Island, New York.
