Theatre : can it impact a person’s life? the perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities and theatre group workers

Abstract

This study explores how theatre impacts the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. It also aims to discover whether performers with intellectual disabilities are faced with any challenges or supporting factors in theatre. Therefore, this study involves three performers with intellectual disabilities who form part of a theatre group. The aim behind this study is also to explore how workers forming part of the same working group perceive theatre for performers with intellectual disabilities. The study’s objectives are based on the idea that the arts can be used by artists with intellectual disabilities to challenge negative perceptions associated with their disabilities, leading to social emancipation. This study is qualitative in nature and adopts a case-study methodology to gain an in-depth understanding of how theatre affects the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Semistructured interviews and observation sessions were used to generate data. The data generated was analysed through thematic analysis. The affirmative model was the conceptual framework that guided this study’s methodology, data generation and analysis. Thus, the focus was put on how the participants chose to describe their identity and theatre. Furthermore, the emancipatory research approach was also embraced, and the participants were recognised as knowledgeable informers. The most notable themes which emerged from the data generated were the meaning of theatre in the performers’ lives; the group’s sense of community; the group’s performances and their role; the audience and their perception about the theatre group and performances; theatre and its’ challenges and the participants’ aspirations. Findings indicate that the theatre is providing performers with the opportunity to take control of the manner in which their disability is portrayed. The findings also show that all performers with intellectual disabilities are proud of their identity, and through their performances they want to move away from the idea that disability is an individualised problem. Despite these positive reported outcomes, all participants stated the need for performers with intellectual disabilities to participate in theatre groups that are not only made up of disabled performers. The necessity for a varied audience and more advertisement on the local media was also suggested.