Theatre Terrific, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, is an inclusive theater arts ensemble that presents professional and community stage productions and offers workshops and classes. It is more than a “disability theatre” company: artists of all abilities perform together who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to do so. Approximately half of the actors have a disability.

The group was created 25 years by a group of parents who had adult children with disabilities, both physical and cognitive.  There was no place for their kids to study and perform theater, so the parents hired a professional actor and the work began. 

Theatre Terrific has recently been re-launched with its own permanent home. A main objective behind the re-launch was to move the work of the company more into mainstream theater and away from being tagged as a disability theatre, because the company isn’t comprised solely of those with disabilities.

“Disability” Theatre Reveals Rare Ability in Artistic Director
Susanna Uchatius, Theatre Terrific’s artistic director, has worked with youth in prison; local community groups; social agencies for developmentally, physically and/or mental health concerns; public schools, and local theatre companies. She shared some of her thoughts and experiences with Disaboom about her work with the more-than-disability theatre ensemble:

Disaboom: What got you interested in working with people with disabilities?
Susanna: I have been around difference most of my life.  My mother has lived with mental illness since I was a child and this has taught me how to adapt to perceptions and ideas that are not of the everyday kind.  I also have a daughter who is developmentally challenged and speech impaired. 

As a little girl she could not vocalize clearly and I would tell her to get up on a chair and show me what she wanted to say.  She taught me that communication is a three-dimensional entity that encompasses the whole body....not just the mouth. 

As a result, I see language as a full-body experience. Needless to say, this serves well in the theater.

Disaboom: What advice would you give to disabled people who wish to enter the acting field?
Susanna: The greatest thing that a disabled person can bring to the study of theatre is the courage to fall; the courage to make mistakes and the courage to get it wrong and do it again and again and again in hopes of discovery. The challenge is to be authentic, speak from a place of truth, and don't expect your particular disability to let you off the hook in the work. You’re just going to have to approach certain things in a different way....an obstacle of any kind can be a source of fantastic creativity.

Disaboom: Tell us about one of your actors who is disabled.
Susanna: One of our actors, Greg Labine, once said to me, “Everyone likes a guy in a wheelchair.” I took this to mean that people see the wheelchair first and then the person in it....that the person in it is deemed somehow special and good.  Greg did not like being seen as a good guy in a wheelchair....and went on to teach us that his wheelchair did not define him. 

For that reason, his wheelchair was irrelevant in one of the plays he acted in, The Secret Son. It became an interesting obstacle and prop to be used in the creative process....we had to figure out how to use it.....and not let it dominate in any way.

Disaboom: What has been the experience of disabled and able-bodied actors working together?
Sussana:  Theatre Terrific is comprised of a cohesive ensemble that works together as a whole.  If some of the cast are deaf, blind, have Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or whatever it may be, they, along with able-bodied actors, must all meet on a level field as equals. Each actor is going to have to learn different communication paths, be open to the unfamiliar and learn from each other.

I can tell you that all actors that we have worked with have reveled in what is a truthful, holistic and authentic method of theatre creation. They have said that this is how it should be. 

The human race is full of diversity, and the arts should include them all.