Seesaw Theatre's Inclusive Theatre Festival brings together diverse perspectives

Seesaw Theatre’s Third Annual Inclusive Theatre Festival (ITF) was held on November 17-18. The two days were filled with a wide variety of presentations, all with the goal of educating and learning about the inclusive theatre community. Speakers and attendees included various playwrights, artists, educators, arts administrators and theatre makers that all came together to share their practices and help learn how they can continue to expand their knowledge as a community.

Seesaw Theatre is a group of students whose focus is creating multi-sensory inclusive devised theatre for those with autism spectrum condition and other developmental differences. They hold theatre workshops with kids at local schools, hold two larger performance style workshops annually, and ITF for their yearly programming.

Seesaw’s goal is to provide these children with a place and space where they have the agency to explore their inhibitions and have the freedom to be independent, something they don’t get to do very often when they are so carefully cared for by parents, teachers or aids.

ITF is Seesaw Theatre’s biggest annual education event. Even though it is only in its third year, the festival’s organizer and Seesaw’s Internal Education Director Olivia Zapater-Charrette said that Seesaw has already seen an incredible amount of growth in the scope of the conference.

Although most speakers are neurotypical, there is always a fair share of neurodiversity at the festival. This is incredibly important when discussing steps that have already been taken in the field of inclusive theater and fostering collaborative discussions on how the expansion and improvement of inclusive theatre can happen because neurodiverse people offer a different perspective that can be invaluable when understanding Seesaw’s audiences.

Zapater-Charette said, “It was important to me that we heard as much as possible directly from neurodiverse actors and theatre artists, instead of hearing neurotypical artists and administrators speaking for them. I’m excited to see what collaborations follow the connections that were made at the conference to better the practices of groups on Northwestern’s campus and beyond.” 

Presenters and speakers travelled near and far to attend ITF this year. Attendees came from Special Gifts Theatre, Children’s Theatre of Madison, Ohio State Theatre Dept.,  A.B.L.E. Ensemble and more. There was a wide variety of presentations as well, from interactive workshops to presentations on research on autism to presentations on drama techniques to presentations and speeches from artists with disabilities.

Despite the differences in presentation style, they all had one common thread: improving the education of individuals in the inclusive theatre community and how to create the most accessible art possible. The goal of ITF is to celebrate the growth of and within inclusive and accessible theater, which overall is a constantly changing field as more and more is discovered through experience and exploration.

Christina Layton, Seesaw Theatre’s Executive Director, said, “Our 2018 Inclusive Theatre Festival was a major success in bringing in inclusive arts practitioners from across the country.”

She hopes that ITF and Seesaw’s educational mission will continue to reach wider audiences as Seesaw’s growth expands. A big change, opening ITF up to the public, has been a major step in this direction.

“We are excited about continuing to explore the ways in which ITF, and Seesaw’s year-long special event programming, can serve as a resource to the Northwestern student population to learn more about this ever-expanding field,” she said.