Show empowers people living with disabilities
Sum Theatre production delivers music, drama, jousting and a positive message
“My character doesn’t feel the need to not be disabled,” says Haley Brown, the lead actress in Sum Theatre’s latest production.
The play, Queen Seraphina and The Land of Vertebraat, tells the tale of a fantasy kingdom where everyone is disabled, but nobody is treated differently.
Brown, who regularly uses a wheelchair due to brittle bones, said the story is close to her heart because of her personal experiences.
“I’ve loved theatre since I was very little, but I haven’t seen very many disabled performers onstage,” Brown said. “It’s been quite a journey to realize that there might eventually be roles for me.”
Sum Theatre’s annual Theatre in the Park production strives to bring something different to each performance, and this show is no different. Adam Pottle, a local playwright who is also deaf, wrote the show and said it has a lot of personal meaning to him.
He wants to flip the script when it comes to the portrayal of disability stories in theatre, he said in an email interview.
“Most of the stories I grew up with that featured disabled characters were either dull ... or horrible tragedies,” Pottle said. “Those stories never featured disabled people just being people, just trying to live their lives and create a place for themselves in the world.”
The casting of the show is a step in the right direction for theatre in Saskatoon, from Pottle’s perspective. Alongside Brown, who plays the wheelchair-riding titular heroine Queen Seraphina, the show also includes deaf performer Chris Dodd and Michael Martin, who has Erb’s Palsy.
Martin went through the University of Saskatchewan’s drama program. He said it’s a delight to be part of a show that doesn’t portray people with disability as side characters or people to be pitied.
“I’d like people to take away that people with disabilities are just part of the broader community, the same community,” Martin said.
The stage is a unique setup for Theatre in the Park, since it has to be entirely wheelchair accessible. Large, curving ramps designed by U of S engineering student Tim Gadzella loop in a figure eight pattern to allow easy rolling around the performing area for Brown and other wheelchair users in the show.
There’s plenty of fun tidbits to get excited about in this production: music, drama, jousting, and a positive message for both children and adults.
Pottle said the push for inclusivity and accessibility in Saskatoon doesn’t have to stop when the show ends.
“We can push for accessibility measures in theatres, galleries, books stores — any artistic space ... the dialogue must always be ongoing,” he said.
At some point during the show, Brown said her character gets the classic “fairy tale choice” to have her disability taken away — but she loves that Queen Seraphina doesn’t feel compelled to say yes.
“There’s so much shame growing up disabled, and I hope that the pride my character has for her disability and her disability community can be something that children and adults will get to think about,” she said.