Theatre, Representation and the ‘Other’: Recent books on theatre and disability

Disability in theatre has become a well-established area of academic enquiry. My own research is in the representation of dementia in contemporary performance. Despite clear differences between disability – whether inherited or acquired – and the cognitive decline associated with dementia, there are parallels to be drawn between the two in relation to their representation on stage. The three books selected for this review each make a unique contribution to the understanding of disability in performance: Kirsty Johnston’s Disability Theatre and Modern Drama: Recasting modernism, Bree Hadley’s Disability, Public Space Performance and Spectatorship: Unconscious performers, and Petra Kuppers’ Theatre & Disability