An acting troupe puts on major productions for actors with disabilities.
By Danielle Shaw
It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, and the theater is packed. A young girl using a walker and dressed as Dorothy Gayle emerges through the curtains. She speaks to her dog Toto and then begins a serene “Over the Rainbow.” As she finishes singing, she is drowned out by the audience’s enthusiastic applause.
Later the audience notices that the Tin Man and Scarecrow have visual impairments, and the Lion uses a wheelchair. In fact, all of the young actors seem to have some kind of physical impairment. But as the performance goes on, the focus is not on the actors’ disabilities but rather on their comic timing and beautiful singing voices.
“What Makes Us Different”
This performance of the Wizard of Oz starred the junior division of Acting Without Boundaries (AWB). Located in the Philadelphia suburbs, AWB is an acting program for children, teens, and young adults up to age 30 who have physical disabilities. Through monthly acting workshops, the burgeoning actors learn music, movement, and acting skills taught by professional actors and music directors.
AWB was founded in 2004 by Christine Rouse, the creator of Kids Are Kids, a “disabled awareness educational workshop dedicated to educating children and adults about disabilities. The theme of the workshops is ‘What makes us different makes us beautiful.’” AWB was a natural outgrowth of the Kids Are Kids workshops because Christine wanted to share her love of the performing arts with young people with disabilities.
“Growing up with cerebral palsy, I felt it was difficult to fit in,” says Christine. “I love to act, but I always had a difficult time. I wanted to create a place for kids of all ages [where they] could learn about the performing arts but more importantly to help young people with physical disabilities to develop and cultivate friendships that can last a lifetime.”
“I believe that there are no boundaries in the world of acting regardless of one’s disability,” adds Christine.
AWB is free to actors and their families and is run with charitable donations, including a fundraiser every fall. The program includes frequent social outings, including a recent karaoke party and group trips to see professional theater performances.
Aaron Deede, age 27, one of AWB’s actors, has been with the program from its start. He has been a wheelchair user since sustaining a T4 spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury in a car accident at age 18 in 2000. Although he says it was hard adjusting at first to using a wheelchair and to the numerous weight shifts he had to do, he now calls himself a “poster child for people with disabilities. I’m thankful every day that I’m able to wake up,” he says.
Born to Act
Aaron has performed in AWB’s Inaugural Show in 2004, Variety Hour in 2005, Pippin in 2006, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown in 2007, and Aladdin in 2008. He and the rest of the AWB actors are currently rehearsing for their upcoming show, The Sound of Music, which will debut on October 4 at The Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania.
In high school, Aaron was named Best Actor for his roles in two different school productions. He has also acted at the Magee Rehabilitation Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “I always say I’ve been acting since I was born,” Aaron says with a chuckle.
When I ask him if he is a good singer, he laughs and says, “It depends who you ask. If you asked that when my family was around, they’d just laugh.”
Aaron says he enjoys the camaraderie he shares with the other actors, who are all young adults with physical disabilities like himself. “I just love it so much. I love all of the other actors, and I’ve become friends with all of them.” He says he also feels like a parent to some of the younger actors since he is “so much older than most of them.”
The mentoring of younger actors is a big part of AWB’s goals, and the older actors now have more opportunities to act as mentors because of the addition of AWB Jr. This part of the program was started in 2006 for children ages 4 to 11.
At age 4, my son, Jordan McCown, is currently the youngest actor involved in AWB Jr. He made his debut this May in the Wizard of Oz, playing a munchkin and one of the wicked witch’s guards. Since he doesn’t know the meaning of the word “nervous” yet, he didn’t complain of stage fright. He seems to treat AWB Jr. as an opportunity for dress-up and imaginative play. But I hope his experience with the program will enhance his self-confidence and creativity as he grows older.
Jordan has a rare spinal condition called caudal regression syndrome. As a parent, it has been wonderful for me to watch children in starring roles who are similar to my son. I also think it’s good for him to be around other kids with mobility impairments so he knows he’s not the only one who uses a device to get around.
Aaron says AWB gives him the chance to express himself both physically and verbally. “It gives me so much confidence,” he says.
“When I was going home after my accident, the doctors told my mom that there was no way I could have any quality of life,” Aaron says. “What do doctors know?”
For more information on AWB and Kids Are Kids, visit www.actingwithoutboundaries.org.
Danielle Shaw is a freelance editor and writer from Norristown, Pennsylvania.
