{"id":{"repo_id":"essex","oai_identifier":"oai:repository.essex.ac.uk:27878"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/essex/oai:repository.essex.ac.uk:27878","repository":{"repo_id":"essex","name":"University of Essex","base_url":"https://repository.essex.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Hand-in-hand? A playwright’s journey into learning-disability theatre.","abstract":"How do playwrights avoid ventriloquism when making work for and with learning-disabled people? How can the practical demands of theatre be adjusted to give learning-disabled performers fair and equal access to theatre-making? What is the ‘proper’ goal of this work in terms of audience and critical reception? These questions and others are addressed in the broad context of my practice as a playwright with over thirty years’ experience in applied/community theatre, set against the background of a burgeoning learning-disabled theatre sector. This is carried out via the devising/writing and production of a new play, Trisomy 21, which examines issues related to Down’s Syndrome. Trisomy 21 is written with Razed Roof, an inclusive theatre company with a core group of learning-disabled practitioners/participants who also work alongside sixth form students. My thesis focuses on my personal and professional analysis of the process of making Trisomy 21. I also explore the critical context and work of other playwrights and practitioners in the field. I examine current trends in learning-disability theatre and especially questions of ‘authenticity’ and ‘autonomy’ as the dominant values by which learning-disabled work is critically judged, and funded – or not – and the consequent under-valuing of non-learning-disabled writers in the sector. I propose, instead, a concept which I have called ‘hand-in-handedness,’ a shared-agency approach of learning-disabled and non-learning-disabled participants/practitioners working together and supporting each other which also encompasses a symbolic vision of connectedness. This is bolstered by my reading of the work of Eva Feder Kittay, a leading proponent of the ethics of care, a movement in moral philosophy which sees moral action as being embodied in interpersonal relationships rather than by a drive towards individual autonomy. This is the first study of its kind by a playwright and as such constitutes an original contribution to this widening field of theatre scholarship.","abstract_html":"How do playwrights avoid ventriloquism when making work for and with learning-disabled people? How can the practical demands of theatre be adjusted to give learning-disabled performers fair and equal access to theatre-making? What is the ‘proper’ goal of this work in terms of audience and critical reception? These questions and others are addressed in the broad context of my practice as a playwright with over thirty years’ experience in applied/community theatre, set against the background of a burgeoning learning-disabled theatre sector. This is carried out via the devising/writing and production of a new play, Trisomy 21, which examines issues related to Down’s Syndrome. Trisomy 21 is written with Razed Roof, an inclusive theatre company with a core group of learning-disabled practitioners/participants who also work alongside sixth form students. My thesis focuses on my personal and professional analysis of the process of making Trisomy 21. I also explore the critical context and work of other playwrights and practitioners in the field. I examine current trends in learning-disability theatre and especially questions of ‘authenticity’ and ‘autonomy’ as the dominant values by which learning-disabled work is critically judged, and funded – or not – and the consequent under-valuing of non-learning-disabled writers in the sector. I propose, instead, a concept which I have called ‘hand-in-handedness,’ a shared-agency approach of learning-disabled and non-learning-disabled participants/practitioners working together and supporting each other which also encompasses a symbolic vision of connectedness. This is bolstered by my reading of the work of Eva Feder Kittay, a leading proponent of the ethics of care, a movement in moral philosophy which sees moral action as being embodied in interpersonal relationships rather than by a drive towards individual autonomy. This is the first study of its kind by a playwright and as such constitutes an original contribution to this widening field of theatre scholarship.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Johnson, Judith"],"institution":"University or Essex","degree_name":"phd","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-06","date_published":"2020-06","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:18:37Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.sponsor","label":"Sponsor","values":["CHASE"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Johnson, Judith"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2020-06-01"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2020-06"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University or Essex"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://repository.essex.ac.uk/27878/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["phd"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://repository.essex.ac.uk/27878/1/PhD%20Final%20Draft%20%28Corrections%20and%20Play%29%20Judith%20Johnson%20%28for%20Repository%29.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["How do playwrights avoid ventriloquism when making work for and with learning-disabled people? 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These questions and others are addressed in the broad context of my practice as a playwright with over thirty years’ experience in applied/community theatre, set against the background of a burgeoning learning-disabled theatre sector. This is carried out via the devising/writing and production of a new play, Trisomy 21, which examines issues related to Down’s Syndrome. Trisomy 21 is written with Razed Roof, an inclusive theatre company with a core group of learning-disabled practitioners/participants who also work alongside sixth form students. My thesis focuses on my personal and professional analysis of the process of making Trisomy 21. I also explore the critical context and work of other playwrights and practitioners in the field. 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