Open Space A good way to engage Writers to create chararcters with disabilities?

Participants: Lisa Hammon, Cherylee Houston, Angela Clerkin, Jean St Clare

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

• As a writer I would love to write a play in the future with a disabled character
• But I need a dialogue with disabled people to find out about the content
• Has found interest in people’s (disabled) difficulties but MORE interested in what we have in common
• More interested in what’s going on in the mind
• What about dis/abled bodied people are the same trials / tribulations/ thoughts?
• Would an Open Space for writers on this subject interest you as a writer?
• YES 

• Open Space to explore the language
• To explore disabled people’s opinions / lives
• Challenged by the concept
• Never written a disabled character
• What would that challenge be?
• Is it casting not writing?
• Might not be the thing that you want to focus on as a writer
• But aware that it could be fear – getting it wrong
• Don’t want to get it wrong
• Realise that it’s a challenge that interests me
• Need to know that I’m included as an able-bodied person to come along
• As an able-bodied writer I’d have to be prepared to get it wrong – safe place needed to do so.
• I need my awareness and responsibilities to make other writer’s aware of theirs.
• There could be many strands to this idea of using Open Space to explore this – directors / producers
• Is it the writer’s responsibility to concentrate on that strand? Pass the buck back to the casting director – they then in turn pass the buck back to the writer.  The disabled actor doesn’t get seen.
• Write normal scripts, but make one of the characters have a disability in the blurb of the character
• Writer’s can get feedback of showing too much of a breakdown of actual community

Two Solutions

• Cast disabled people in roles non disability specific
• The specific. The disability not being the central storyline, but access info / specifics in the script needed if the character has got a disability.
• If I write a disabled / Deaf character and that story is not played out, then I will be asked why they are there.
• Casting like before disability and after – different casting needs
• Disabled people represented not played out “their real disabled life” the difficulty of it
• Scripts that aren’t focused on disability
• If people don’t have the experience then how are they expected to get it right?
• Lack of information for people who don’t have experience of disability
• Information source
• Speaking to people to get their individual stories and taking credit for it
• Interested in a collaboration
• The first “story” isn’t the best “story”
• TV, film and theatre
• It will be a gift to come to an Open Space on this
• Contact Writer’s Guild, word of mouth, ongoing thing…
• Not only disabled actors some “normal” disabled people with stories and lives
• Could I call a session and ask about people’s first dates?
• Getting it wrong
• What is the question
• Challenging subject
• Different ways of working and approaching and are allowed to get it wrong
• Venue – Jerwood – posher venue attract all
• Be in touch about a “Name” for the Open Space
• Learning from “the old days”