DIVERSE THEATER AND EVER-CHANGING HORIZONS

Abstract

This thesis is an investigation on the contradictions and the difficulties inclusive art companies in a western context face. My focus is on three companies in which disabled and non-disabled artists work together to make theater and dance performances within a professional context: Theater Thikwa based in Germany, Stopgap Dance Company based in the UK and Speels Collectief, which I founded myself, based in the Netherlands. I conducted interviews with disabled and non-disabled members of each company. From there, I distilled six themes that I elaborate on in order to answer my research question: the companies’ vision when it comes to the meaning of dis/ability, their view on inclusion and diversity, the position of the companies in the arts field, difficulties regarding company management, the financial structure of the companies and questions surrounding selection criteria. Throughout this thesis I argue for a political/relational model of disability read through feminist and queer perspectives. As a theoretical framework, I will make use of the different models of disability outlined by Alison Kafer (2013), and crip and queer theory. In this thesis I do not aim to provide definitive answers, instead I argue for contradictions and discrepancies to be held together in tension. My attempt with this research is to stimulate debate on the meaning of dis/ability and to consider the consequence of this meaning for the art world, and for society as a whole.