Jérôme Bel. Disabled Theater

Celebrated as an outstanding conceptual dance piece on the one hand and harshly criticized for being a contemporary freak show on the other, Disabled Theater by Jérôme Bel and Theater Hora polarizes the public. In either case, the production raises central questions on the role of people with cognitive differences in our society, as well as on basic norms and conventions of theater and dance. Can the stage serve as a place of emancipation for people with disabilities? To what extent are performers with disabilities able to challenge and subvert the regulations of neoliberal societies, above all their principle of proficiency? Do we need new categories of aesthetic judgment? The book takes Disabled Theater as a springboard to a broader discussion on theater and disability at the intersections of politics and aesthetics, inclusion and exclusion, virtuosity and dilettantism, identity and empowerment. The book includes contributions by Jérôme Bel, Kai van Eikels, Kati Kroß, André Lepecki, Lars Nowak, Yvonne Rainer, Gerald Siegmund, Yvonne Schmidt, Sandra Umathum, Scott Wallin, Benjamin Wihstutz, and the actors of Theater Hora.