다른 몸들, 복수의 언어, 감각의 분별 -‘맞;춤’ 기획 공연(2020)의 배리어 컨셔스

Abstract

This research aims to diagnose the current status of plays that examine boundaries between disabled/non-disabled and normal/abnormal, focusing on the works participating in ‘Mat; chum’ Festival performed in the small theater, Hyehwa-dong no.1 in the fall of 2020. Since public theaters have attempted to achieve ‘barrier-free’ and dealt with it as important agenda, the issue of accessibility in theaters has become an significant consideration in theatrical production. It was meaningful change that the ‘2020 Year of Theater’ was progressed for creating a safe creative environment, and the workshop for recognizing the barrier and improving accesibility to theater facilities was included in the programmes with the gender sensitivity workshop. The small theater Hyehwa-dong no.1 located in underground, so its facility accessibility is significantly low. However, the creators did not try to overcome the physical limitations of the theater or simply add seats for the disabled and interpreters to conclusively created performances. They tried to check barrier-conscious in a way that enhances psychological accessibility and to maintain an attitude against the non-disabled-centered order. The five performances participating in ‘Mat; chum’ Festival are all different in content and format, but it is common that disabled artists appear as actors and lead the performance. Naturally, the damage and social experiences undergone by disabled people who participated in the festival are all different, thus their existence on the stage is revealed through their own uniqueness. Three of the five performances are based on stories that reflect the personality of the disabled actor. However, they are aware that disabilities cannot be represented, so rather than presenting social discrimination as disabled people, they try to express the conflicts they feel in their daily lives and the perceived differences. While the hierarchy and distinction between disability and non-disability do not work, the differences between different languages and senses become prominent. This allows the identification of individualities that are not reduced to disability. Kafka’s original and Claire Barron’s translation plays are no different. In the two performances, the presence of actors with different bodies is highlighted, but the difference revealed in the situation where grammar of representation does not work completely is reconstructed as a problem of different bodies and different senses. From the preparation process of the performance, ‘Mat; chum’ Festival places coordinators to enhance accessibility, including sign language interpreters, and focuses on communication with disabled artists. This emphasizes that disability art is not ‘for’ someone, but rather learning together through ‘process’ and expanding thoughts through ‘experience’. This project is an important example because it convinces of the fact that ‘the play for all’ is ‘possible impossible’ and has meaning as a process, not as a result.