People with disabilities are the heroes in new plays by New Brunswick author [video]

People with disabilities are central figures in a pair of one-act plays by a New Brunswick writer that will be shown this week at a festival in Alabama.

J. Ivanel Johnson, who is based in New Brunswick’s Upper River Valley, says she’s trying to challenge people’s assumptions by incorporating a diverse set of characters into her works. One play, a comedy-suspense titled A Tack Room, features two disabled protagonists.

“One is mentally challenged, the other is physically challenged, and they become the heroes at the end of the show,” she said. “They end up catching the criminal that was lurking behind the thunderstorm that came through.”

The other play is a comedy called The Pistol’s Report, which features a protagonist who is described as “the epitome of an unreliable narrator.”

“It’s about a young girl who’s a real pistol, and she’s reporting to her classroom about things that happened at her home that weekend, but because she is just a 12-year-old, she’s misinterpreted a lot of things in there,” Johnson said.

“She has two daddies, and one of her daddies is a violinist who uses crutches and a wheelchair. The wheelchair becomes the big clue at the end of the farce, where a lot of things end up happening because her daddy was in that wheelchair.”

Johnson herself has limited mobility, and uses a wheelchair to get around when she’s travelling. “It’s very hard for me to be in a vehicle anymore without a lot of pain,” she said.

She won’t be making the journey to Prattville, Ala., where the festival’s in-person events are taking place. Instead, the festival will be featuring rehearsed read-throughs of the scripts that were recorded earlier this year in London, England.

As part of the festival’s “digital fringe” programming, the productions will be available for viewing starting on Sept. 26 on the Thornhill Theatre Space YouTube channel.

Has the playwright run into any problems, considering Alabama’s reputation as a bastion of right-wing politics? So far, no. “I’ve been really impressed with how culturally diverse all the plays that they’re going to be showing appear to be,” Johnson said.

Johnson also reflected on the obstacles that she’s faced as an artist with a disability, and shared advice for aspiring playwrights, recommending that they locate themselves in urban centres where venues tend to be located.

“Theatres in New Brunswick are few and far between,” she said. “Even a community theatre is practically unheard of.”

Asked about what’s next, Johnson said she’s working on another one-act play, this one involving a homeless person in a train station.

Routine announcements overheard on the station’s PA system are written in such a way that they can be taken symbolically.

“So many things around us are symbolic and giving us messages,” she said. “And we’re just not paying attention.”

She encouraged readers to check out books by New Brunswick authors — Saturday was NB Book Day — including her own, which can be found on the Excellence NB website.

David Gordon Koch is a staff reporter for the NB Media Co-op, and Matthew Wright is a volunteer with the Co-op. Both of them are based in Moncton. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).