There's a superpower in all of us, and Realwheels Theatre explores what that means in their forthcoming production Super Voices.
The professional theatre company behind Whose Life Is It Anyway? and Skydive focus on storytelling, "the hallmark of the disability community" explains interim artistic director Jeffrey Renn.
The community-based, mixed media production came to life after a series of skill-building performing arts workshops exploring identity within the disabled community. Each year the company produces a community involvement project and anyone who wants to be involved is welcome.
"Inclusion and access are not just two words we aspire to," Renn says. "This is our actual practice."
That philosophy is evident in their pay-what-you-can ticket price and by the diversity of performers.
"We ended up with this question of ‘What other powers have you created around the negotiation of your disability?" Renn says of the concept behind the theme. "For some it's compassion, for others, patience or alternate communication methods. They've created other ways to identify because they're so much more than their disability."
Renn emphasizes the importance of productions like these because of the scarcity of training for professional theatre for people with disabilities is vast. Within the production is a mentoring program designed to close that gap, and help match the actors' skill set to the standards of professional theatre.
"We brought Jamie Nesbitt, one of the top projection designers, on board to work with Caspar Ryan, a videographer who desired to learn more about theatre," he says.
Realwheels Society has also begun advocacy work with the city of Vancouver, where most civic theatres only accommodate a handful of wheelchairs at any one time.
Renn describes the experience as an extraordinarily expansive exercise, and is in real gratitude for the position he holds within the company.
"I'm blessed to work in this community of compassion, generosity, and support."
* Super Voices runs June 12 & 13 at Roundhouse Performance Centre.
