Theatre practitioner Peter Sau, 44, would like to see a restaging of Romeo And Juliet where Juliet is in a wheelchair, Romeo has a stump for his arm and the nurse has Down syndrome.
“I’d like to see how these different characters can be embodied and performed by disabled actors. That kind of representation is going to be very multi-layered,” says the founder of Project Tandem, a theatre collective for artists with disabilities.
Mr Sau, who is also an educator, is one of several Singaporeans who will be speaking at next month’s Arts & Disability Forum.
The event, which will run from 7 to 9 October, is organised by the National Arts Council and charity Very Special Arts Singapore, and will feature more than 10 speakers from different countries.
It will be set to the theme Cultivating Collaborations, Increasing Access; and consist of keynote presentations, panel discussions and workshops.
Due to the pandemic, the event will be held online for the first time since its launch in 2015. The organisers expect more than 300 people from Singapore and abroad to take part.
The keynote speakers at next month’s forum are British dance veteran Ruth Fabby, artistic director of Disability Arts Cymru; and Australian arts performer and educator Caroline Bowditch, chief executive of Arts Access Victoria.
There will also be discussions and hands-on activities led by experts such as Malaysian social entrepreneur Stevens Chan, who founded internationally renowned arts festival Dialogue in the Dark; Indian photographer and disability arts practitioner Partho Bhowmick, who started the Blind With Camera photography school for the visually impaired; and Singapore social advocate Jean Loo, co-founder of inclusive arts movement Superhero Me.
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Source: The Straits Times, 8 September 2020