Play centred on students with disabilities gives ‘voice to the voiceless’

Daniel Stevenson is social, likes to collect things and loves a good joke.

He'll pinch his nose and point at you, like, you smell,'" said his mother, Barb Stevenson.

In a lot of ways, the 18-year-old is a typical teenager" who thinks parents are uncool," she said. He is also nonverbal, diagnosed with developmental delays and other disorders.

When Daniel's St. Mary Catholic Secondary School drama teacher proposed an idea for an end-of-year production - a play that would give her son a voice - his mother had no reservations.

She's always exciting and thinking outside the box," Stevenson said of teacher Kathryn Newberry.

The play tells the stories of six students with disabilities - Daniel, Evan, Maria, Ashley, Isiah and Liam - in Newberry's integrated arts class in the style of verbatim theatre, where the script is taken directly from recorded interviews.

The play, the school's first since 2019, is based on a series of interviews with the students' families. Even the title, A Voice In This World," is a phrase spoken during an interview.

Verbatim is about giving voice to the voiceless," Newberry said.

Student productions are returning to the stage after a two-year hiatus amid COVID-19. Other upcoming performances include The Little Mermaid" at Glendale Secondary School - the audition-based arts program that peformed the Broadway musical Cats" virtually last year - and Sir Allan MacNab's production of Annie."

Newberry said students worked with Toronto-based verbatim theatre company Project: Humanity to create A Voice In This World."

The play is structured in scenes about the students' likes and dislikes, challenges they face, and how the world views them. There's also a scene dedicated to one of the students, Liam, who died in March while students were rehearsing the play.

It is always very emotional when we go through it because they're real emotions," said Grade 12 student, Julia Middleton, cast as both Evan's and Ashley's moms. We didn't make it up. It happened."

Middleton, who plans to study acting next year, said the play challenged her as an actor.

I have to use my acting skills to kind of put myself out there and say, Yes, I haven't had these experiences, but how can I relate to them,'" she said.

Middleton said the experience challenged her in other ways, too.

I had always thought that I was a very accepting and open person, but I've realized that I had classes with these students before and I never even went ... out of my way to just say hi," she said.

Newberry said the idea for the play crystallized when she realized the divide between students in her senior arts class had grown during the pandemic.

My students would be on one side (of the stage) and my students with special needs would be physically separated on the other side," Newberry said of her class.

She sought to narrow the gap, using games that played to the strengths of students in her class. Maria, who is autistic, led the class in a game of follow the leader," but with dance. Daniel performed an impromptu comedy bit with a rainbow clown wig and sunglasses, causing the entire class to erupt in laughter.

There's been a complete turnaround," she said. There's a genuine friendship there now that wasn't there before."

Performances are scheduled from May 30 to June 2. Tickets are available for $10 at the door and by emailing newberryk@hwcdsb.ca.

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com