DisAbility Project
About
Since 1996, That Uppity Theatre Company has focused on developing projects that bring together amateur performers with professional artists to create innovative material based on lived experience. In 1995, theatre artist Joan Lipkin and occupational therapist Fran Cohen co-founded "the DisAbility Project." Comprised of people with and without disabilities to model inclusion, the project creates and tours original material about the culture of disability. We have performed for almost 100,000 people, received numerous awards and international recognition as one of the oldest and few projects of its kind in the country.
People with disabilities are typically absent from representation and participation in our cultural landscape. According to the 2000 Missouri Census, an estimated 17% of the population in the state experiences some form of disability, whether it is sensory, cognitive, or mobility-related. With over 55 million people with disabilities in the United States, it is the largest and most financially challenged population in the country.
The DisAbility Project brings awareness and sensitivity to issues in the disability community through a combination of art and advocacy that tours to a variety of audiences. The project presents at educational institutions, conferences, special events, festivals, religious and civic groups, and corporations.
Our group is comprised of people with and without disabilities who are diverse in age, race, ethnicity, class, occupation, education, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability, and performance experience.
Some of the challenges facing participants include alcoholism, amputation, asthma, bipolar disorder, blindness, brain injury, cancer, cerebral palsy, cognitive delay, depression, Down syndrome, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, polio, spina bifida, spinal cord injury, and stroke.
Ensemble members engage in conversation, writing, sound, movement and theatrical exercises to create educational and entertaining performance pieces on the culture of disability. Many people with disabilities are finding both a sense of community and an outlet for their talents in the project, while our artists without disabilities have had their worldview expanded.
In recognition of our groundbreaking work, we have received numerous awards including the Governor’s Council on Disability Community Enhancement, Focus What's Right with the Region for Improving Racial Equality and Social Justice, John van Voris, Human Rights Campaign Organizational Equality Award, and Arts for Life Special Recognition among others.
Press is welcome to use any of our website images with attribution to That Uppity Theatre Company.
Media
Riverfront Times
Thespians on Wheels: Joan Lipkin's DisAbility Project is on a roll
There are many ways to fight for social change: marching, shouting, stripping. Joan Lipkin has tried them all, most memorably in 2004 when she enlisted 51 other women to help her protest the war in Iraq by lying down stark naked on the roof of the City Museum in the shape of a peace sign.
St. Louis Public Radio
Common Thread Contemporary Dance Collaborates With The DisAbility Project and Dance St. Louis
Joan Lipkin has been creating theater with people who have disabilities since 1996, when she co-founded the DisAbility Project. An outgrowth of That Uppity Theatre Company, of which Lipkin is artistic director, the DisAbility Project brings together amateur and professional performers of all abilities to create theater based on lived experience.
The Journal
DisAbility Project demonstrates acceptance through performance
Joan Lipkin, co-founder of the DisAbility Project and artistic director of That Uppity Theatre Company in St. Louis, said everyone has a natural curiosity about disabilities.
“(Discussing disabilities) is not easy,” Lipkin said. “And that’s one of the reasons why we think it’s so important to be at places like this (Webster University) so people understand about disabled parking, accessibility and — more importantly — societal attitudes and being kind. We don’t want to be tolerated, we want to be included.”
