abstract
Actors learn to embody character traits to realize characters in performance. Yet some dimensions of character identity, including race, gender, age, and disability, are inscribed on the human body and present a challenge for performers whose own bodies are not marked with that identity. Deborah Kent, a blind writer and critic, has charged that sighted fiction authors use blind characters for their metaphorical value and portray them according to inaccurate stereotypes. Similarly, a sighted actor playing the role of a blind character in contemporary drama risks relying too heavily on stereotypes and symbolic interpretations to shape her physical portrayal of that character.
This paper will explore three possible production concepts for Brian Friel's 1994 play Molly Sweeney, each of which strives to achieve a responsible portrayal of impairment. The first of these attempts to create a visually impaired experience for the audience. The second emphasizes an accurate and positive portrayal of disability in the on-stage world. The third production concept focuses on accessibility services for disabled audience members and equal-opportunity casting for disabled actors. Each of these potential productions I will discuss has different implications for the decision to cast a sighted actress in the title role of the blind woman. I will use these three production concepts to explore the complex demands and considerations of "cross-ability casting," and I will relate these concerns to my own decisions as the director of a 2002 University of Michigan production of Molly Sweeney, produced in cooperation with the Council for Disability Concerns.