Carrie Sandahl, PhD, UIC (IL UCEDD/LEND) Puts Disability on Display in U.K.

November 9, 2012

Associate professor Carrie Sandahl traveled to Liverpool, England, in August to participate in DaDa Fest, one of the longest running international festivals of disability and deaf arts.

Sandahl, along with other cast members from the U.S. and the U.K., worked with playwright Terry Galloway and dramaturg Donna Nudd to workshop a play-in-development "In the House of the Moles: A Tragedy in Burlesque." At the end of a two-week residency, the cast performed a rehearsed reading of the revised play, which involved live music, singing, minimal costumes and props, and character work."I performed four different characters, each with its own physicality, vocal work and theatrical style," says Sandahl, pictured in partial costume. "It was an enjoyable challenge."

The play explores issues of disability, gender and sexuality within the dynamics of family and the wider society.

Several of Sandahl's videos from the Gimp Parade (also made in collaboration with Nudd, Galloway and the Mickee Faust Theatre in Tallahassee, Fla.) were shown at the DaDa Film Shorts Festival. The film event was chosen to be part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, a series of cultural events throughout the U.K. in conjunction with the summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Learn more about In the House of the Moles and Sandahl's contribution via this review.