For two and a half days, 13 Artist/Leaders and 12 institutional Respondents gathered at the Stratford Festival to immerse themselves in conversations led by artists from the Deaf and disability arts community, about theatrical performance.
"We're building what we hope will be a living document that can move forward as we continue our work in the future with The Study and The Republic of Inclusion" says Summit co-curator Sarah Garton Stanley.
Everyone grappled with questions of inclusion, history(s), points of view and tradition(s), and how it all impacts the creation of contemporary theatre.
The Summit was an opportunity to listen and learn. "It is actually quite simple to make things more inclusive" explains co-curator Syrus Marcus Ware.
"If you just open the door. And open your understanding to the truth that human being are really diverse and that we move through the world in different ways and if you start from that intention almost anything is possible."
The Summit is part of a multi-year process called the Cycle. The second phase of this process, a larger 10-day event called the Study, will take place in Ottawa in June, 2017, culminating in a public sharing of work called the Republic of Inclusion.
