Tony McCaffrey is a Lecturer in Creative Industries at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts, Ara Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2004 he established the Different Light Theatre Company, an ensemble of performers with intellectual disabilities.

"McCaffrey's research makes an original contribution to this rapidly expanding field, balancing his passion for the topic with deeply considered scholarship, revealing a form of theatre that is aesthetically innovative, plays with the boundaries of theatrical representation, is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, and is located at the cutting edge of contemporary performance practice." - David O’Donnell, Victoria University of Wellington "Overall, the book gives voice to many of the questions that need to be asked in relation to the development of intellectual disability theatre. It does not pretend to offer answers to these questions but problematises them in a way that becomes essential reading for anyone planning to do further work in this area in the future, whether theatrical or theoretical." - Paul McNamara, University of Limerick, Ireland"McCaffrey moves discourse surrounding Disability and performance away from narratives reliant on inspiration porn or providing a lesson on Disability to the audience. By pushing the analysis to critical theatre theory (the scholarship surrounding Disabled performances has — until this point — relied on fair representation and inclusion, identity politics, and Disabled content), McCaffrey has paved the way to shift discussions to aesthetics, affect, and audience engagement, and moves beyond ableism to advocate for more intellectually Disabled work." - Jessica Watkin, TDR

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Framing the singularities of actors with intellectual disabilities in theatrical performanceChapter One: ‘A spotlight on the subject of retardation’: A Child is WaitingChapter Two: Mirror stages: Aldo Gennaro and Robert WilsonChapter Three: Parody, intermediality and postdramatic turnsConclusion and afterword: Lines of flightIndex

Tony McCaffrey is a Lecturer in Creative Industries at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts, Ara Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2004 he established the Different Light Theatre Company, an ensemble of performers with intellectual disabilities.

"McCaffrey's research makes an original contribution to this rapidly expanding field, balancing his passion for the topic with deeply considered scholarship, revealing a form of theatre that is aesthetically innovative, plays with the boundaries of theatrical representation, is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, and is located at the cutting edge of contemporary performance practice." - David O’Donnell, Victoria University of Wellington "Overall, the book gives voice to many of the questions that need to be asked in relation to the development of intellectual disability theatre. It does not pretend to offer answers to these questions but problematises them in a way that becomes essential reading for anyone planning to do further work in this area in the future, whether theatrical or theoretical." - Paul McNamara, University of Limerick, Ireland"McCaffrey moves discourse surrounding Disability and performance away from narratives reliant on inspiration porn or providing a lesson on Disability to the audience. By pushing the analysis to critical theatre theory (the scholarship surrounding Disabled performances has — until this point — relied on fair representation and inclusion, identity politics, and Disabled content), McCaffrey has paved the way to shift discussions to aesthetics, affect, and audience engagement, and moves beyond ableism to advocate for more intellectually Disabled work." - Jessica Watkin, TDR

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Framing the singularities of actors with intellectual disabilities in theatrical performanceChapter One: ‘A spotlight on the subject of retardation’: A Child is WaitingChapter Two: Mirror stages: Aldo Gennaro and Robert WilsonChapter Three: Parody, intermediality and postdramatic turnsConclusion and afterword: Lines of flightIndex

Tony McCaffrey is a Lecturer in Creative Industries at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts, Ara Institute, Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2004 he established the Different Light Theatre Company, an ensemble of performers with intellectual disabilities.

"McCaffrey's research makes an original contribution to this rapidly expanding field, balancing his passion for the topic with deeply considered scholarship, revealing a form of theatre that is aesthetically innovative, plays with the boundaries of theatrical representation, is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, and is located at the cutting edge of contemporary performance practice." - David O’Donnell, Victoria University of Wellington "Overall, the book gives voice to many of the questions that need to be asked in relation to the development of intellectual disability theatre. It does not pretend to offer answers to these questions but problematises them in a way that becomes essential reading for anyone planning to do further work in this area in the future, whether theatrical or theoretical." - Paul McNamara, University of Limerick, Ireland"McCaffrey moves discourse surrounding Disability and performance away from narratives reliant on inspiration porn or providing a lesson on Disability to the audience. By pushing the analysis to critical theatre theory (the scholarship surrounding Disabled performances has — until this point — relied on fair representation and inclusion, identity politics, and Disabled content), McCaffrey has paved the way to shift discussions to aesthetics, affect, and audience engagement, and moves beyond ableism to advocate for more intellectually Disabled work." - Jessica Watkin, TDR

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Framing the singularities of actors with intellectual disabilities in theatrical performanceChapter One: ‘A spotlight on the subject of retardation’: A Child is WaitingChapter Two: Mirror stages: Aldo Gennaro and Robert WilsonChapter Three: Parody, intermediality and postdramatic turnsConclusion and afterword: Lines of flightIndex