More Than a Role: Finding Strength on Stage
By: Shawn Buller
Where do I begin? First, I was thrilled to learn that, as a woman who has been a wheelchair user for over 40 years, I had an opportunity to be part of a theater production! I didn’t know the content of the work; I didn’t know the director or where any of the rehearsals or performances would take place. All I knew was, there was a part for a woman who used a wheelchair. Imagine that! The thought that there was an interest to recruit someone with a disability, specifically a woman with a disability! I learned of the opportunity from Karen Peterson. I had been part of Karen Peterson and Dancers, a physically integrated dance company, from 2005 – 2023. She called asking if she could give my name and contact information to Phillip Church who was looking for a female who had a disability and was a chair user. I agreed, I auditioned and I got a part in this amazing work, Sitting Pretty.
My excitement grew as I was introduced to the book Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig and the content of the script. I made sure to tell friends, family, neighbors, any of the health providers that I saw…honestly anyone who would listen! I was excited!
When I met with the team, Phillip, Justine and LaQuantis, I realized the responsibility I was agreeing to, that we were all agreeing to! We were bringing Rebekah’s words to life through our voices. Oh my, what had I gotten myself into! Memorizing lines, why we say a line, when to breathe, matching energy and project, project! project! I quickly felt the team’s support and our working together made this manageable.
After meeting Justine and LaQuantis (aka ‘Q’) and checking out Sitting Pretty from the library, I learned I had connections with all three of these women. Rebekah was from Kansas City, Missouri. I was born and raised in Sedalia, Missouri, a little over 100 miles east of Kansas City and went to college in Kansas City. Justine went to the same physical therapy clinic that I went to, Miami Physical Therapy. Q being a veteran was very familiar with the Miami VA Medical Center, where I worked for 28 years as a music therapist! All this confirmed I was in the right place, at the right time!
Next step was to reorganize my daily routine with home health aides, how to get my manual chair to rehearsals when needed, working out an almost daily schedule to meet with Q as we worked on our portion of the script, and truth be told…when do I get to go to the bathroom!! Everything was working out nicely, and then came the week of the technical/dress rehearsals and performance! My home life got a little off track.
This final week was carefully scheduled and planned out to go as stress-free as possible. But due to rain, the resurfacing of the parking lot at my condo complex got rescheduled for this week. When I got home Monday night, I ended up parking in the grass. Meaning my wheelchair ramp opened into the grass! And then it rained for most of the night. As I prepared to go to rehearsal the next day my power wheelchair got stuck in the mud! And the more we tried to get out, the deeper I seemed to go in the mud! With the help of amazing neighbors, who didn’t mind getting dirty, they got me out of the mud and onto the ramp. That same day my kitchen sink backed up with a foul concoction coming up through the drain and I needed to arrange for a plumber. On top of that, the regular aide I had been depending on broke her ribs, the other aide I had arranged to assist with bringing my manual chair to the theater ended up in the hospital. But as they say, ‘The show must go on!” The theater gods and angels came to the rescue, and all worked out in the end. The two evenings of performance were a success! My heart filled with gratitude for the experience of working with Phillip, Justine and Q in bringing attention to living with a disability and bringing to life “Chapter 3, More than a Defect”, from Rebekah Taussig’s book Sitting Pretty.
