Friday, June 18, 2010

Theater Group Breaking Barriers


MINNEAPOLIS, (AP) -- An orange-haired woman wearing a laurel wreath and a Grecian tunic sits on a man's knee at center stage, pretending to be his ventriloquist's dummy as he performs a song. With perfect timing and expressions, she mimes to his words, flinging her arms and legs.
As the play unfolds, the woman's Down syndrome seems to melt away at Interact Theater, a troupe that for 18 years has sprinkled its casts with nonprofessional actors who may be blind, have a traumatic brain injury or use a wheelchair. The Minneapolis group aims to break down audience perceptions of people with disabilities.
"That's a big part of the vision," said Interact founder and artistic director Jeanne Calvit. "It's not disability theater per se. It's theater that includes actors with and without disabilities."

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