UnSeen

Theatre should always move an audience - to action, to empathy, to joy, to further understanding. UnSeen is no exception.

The joint brainchild of ex Member of the Legislative Council for the Dignity Party, Kelly Vincent, and multitalented director Alirio Zavarce of AJZ Productions, this is certainly a very refreshingly thought-provoking theatre experience. The company, True Ability, cites as its mission “to create professional theatre pieces, films and advocacy for artists with a lived experience of disability in Adelaide, Australia and be an exemplar of excellence in arts and accessibility to people around the world.”

Whilst the piece informs us about disability, it also advocates for people and highlights their plight as the ’unseen’ in our community. Not just unseen and at times dismissed by the general public, but also by governments and organisations. Throughout the performance we are guided to awareness through multi-media presentations and monologues by the cast of ten, who open windows on what being ‘unseen’ is like and bring to the fore the question, what does freedom really look like? Do we only see the disability; do we truly see and try to know the person; do we not truly listen and only feel the need to fill the silence with OUR talk?

UnSeen also addresses the lack of opportunities for disabled people to play themselves in Hollywood and to be represented in leadership positions. Why is this not the case? It seems so logical, yet society still doesn’t seem to ‘get it’.

The entire performance is engaging, as we see the truly human faces and souls sharing their thoughts and experiences both in the flesh and on video. These one-on-one onscreen interviews between director Alirio and people with disability are poignant and pointed.

The individual performers - Ad’m Martin the poet, Lucy Lopez Rivera, who sings like an angel, Wren Dow, who dances beautifully around her mobility device, and many other very experienced actors make up this troupe. They are truly talented actors and performers in their own right.

Whilst confronting, and at times causing emotions to heighten, this piece of theatre truly makes one stop and think about how people with disability are looked at and looked after, in our society. Kelly Vincent sums up the conundrum: “How does a person forge their own identity in a world that views them as infantile, incapable, and perhaps even burdensome?”

This one-hour performance is engrossing and uplifting and certainly awakens the audience to the UnSeen in our community.

Shelley Hampton

Images (from top): Jamila Main; Kelly Vincent; Rachel High, Dion Allen, Jye Parry, Wren Dow and Kelly Vincent; Dion Allen and Kym Mackenzie; and Lucy Lopez Rivera.