Babes With Blades' RICHARD III Joins The Movement Towards Equitable Theatre, August 25- October 15

Babes With Blades Theatre Company (BWBTC) launches into their 2022 season with Richard III, in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago's Disability Cultural Center and directed by Richard Costes, August 25 - October 15, at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway Ave, with select performances being live streamed.

Previews are Thursday, Aug. 25 - Saturday, Aug. 27 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 28 at 3 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 1 and Friday, Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. Press Opening is Saturday, Sept. 3 at 8 p.m. The regular performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. All performances are presented with open captioning and select performances will be live streamed. Tickets are $20 - $35 and will go on at BabesWithBlades.org Monday, Aug. 1.

The pandemic has brought many of the inequities that exist in professional theater center stage. Artists took the time during lockdown to protest and educate the professional theater community on a litany of ways it has failed members of their own community.

As one of the many identities underrepresented on American stages, actors with disabilities have had to prove themselves capable in auditions as well as in the everyday world, but their efforts are frequently unacknowledged by the general public. Perhaps it sparked a query with some theatre goers when Tony Award winner Ali Stroker, an actor who uses a wheelchair, had to wait backstage at the award ceremony in case she won because the venue lacked a ramp for her to access the stage. Some may have heard about La Jolla Playhouse, who brought on the leaders from the National Disability Theatre as their artists in residence for the 2019-2020 season and helped their audiences ask themselves, "why DON'T we see more actors with disabilities on stage?"

In spring 2022, American Lives Theatre produced "The Cost of Living" featuring two actors who use wheelchairs, and earlier this summer Olney Theatre produced "The Music Man" with deaf, hearing, and hard-of-hearing actors. BWBTC Shakespeare is proudly contributing to the movement towards a more equitable industry with their upcoming production of Richard III. "Shakespeare wrote this play as propaganda and the ableism inherent in the text doesn't disappear. In 2022, we are morally obligated to battle outdated stereotypes. One tactic is to cast other disabled actors - and to be dramaturgically specific about the roles they are cast in," states Richard Costes, the production's director and a deaf artist. "For example, in our production, Elizabeth (one of the most othered characters in the text as a commoner elevated to nobility, as a woman, as a mother, and as the eventual architect of Richard's downfall) is also disabled. By featuring two (or more actors) with disability onstage, in polar opposite roles, we can confront the trope of disability as a metaphorical mark of Cain."

Costes' directorial choice challenges the archaic notion that disabilities propagate evil or guarantee helplessness in people. It's a timely challenge, given that, according to a 2018 study by the CDC, 1 in 4 adults identify as having a disability (making it the largest marginalized population in the US). If theater is supposed to reflect the communities for which it is produced, then artists with disabilities must be embraced and included in all areas of the process and production.

BWBTC Shakespeare: Richard III

By William Shakespeare

In partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago's Disability Cultural Center

Directed by Richard Costes

Fight Direction by BWBTC Ensemble Member Maureen Yasko

Previews: August 25 - September 2 (Times TBA)

Opening: Saturday, Sept. 3 at 8 p.m.

Regular Run: Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m.

All performances will be held at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway. Select performances will be available for live streaming. All performances will have open captioning

Aligned with their mission of representing marginalized voices, "BWBTC Shakespeare" specifically features actors of marginalized genders to provide an opportunity for audiences to perceive these classic stories through a new lens. For this production, BWBTC has partnered with UIC's Disability Cultural Center to tell the tale of Richard of Gloucester's rise to power. Casting both disabled and non-disabled actors and exploring disability beyond the role of Richard III, this production will not only examine stage combat as a storytelling tool, but investigate how storefront theatre can create a more inclusive and disability culture-informed theatre."

For more information, tickets, and live performance streaming information, please visit babeswithblades.org.

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