recent work
Theatre Review, New England Theatre Geek
With the debut of Wonder: The Musical, the A.R.T. was simultaneously presented with a monumental opportunity and an obstacle. The source material, R.J. Palacio’s 2012 book of the same name, has been lauded as a groundbreaking story of empathy through its first-person portrayal of Auggie, a preteen boy with a facial difference. A Google search for reviews brings up words like “uplifting,” “heart-rending,” and “inspirational.”
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These very terms that are used to praise the novel are, however, at the root of frequent critique from members of the disability* rights community. Stories about disability far too often rehash tired tropes, portraying disabled characters as “objects of inspiration or charity,” as Professor Ari D. Ne’eman noted in a Harvard School of Public Health panel about the musical, rather than complex people in their own right. These tropes point to the fact that such stories are about disabled people, but not by or for them. (Editor’s note: We in the disabled community call this Inspiration Porn, a term coined by comedian and activist Stella Young. Check out her 2014 TEDx Talk. )
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about me
I'm a writer, reader, and theater-dabbler; a feminist, queer, utopian-driven weirdo. As an essayist and theater critic, my work has been published in Severance Magazine, Howlround Theatre Commons, OnStage Blog, and The Journal for Dramatic Theory and Criticism. As an educator and dramaturg, I've taught courses on play analysis, musical theater, Shakespeare, and multicultural theater history. I currently live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I spend much of my time kickboxing, singing, thrifting, and writing about writing.
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MFA - UMass Amherst, Dramaturgy (2021)
Certificate in Advanced Feminism - UMass Amherst (2021)
BA - Washington College, Theater & English (2013)