“Accessible theater centers the lived experience of performers and audiences who are often minimized or disregarded due to the way they perceive the world.”
Festival productions
When a severe storm strikes, a group of Sacramentans suddenly find themselves facing the realities of official emergency procedures. Eye of the Storm, an original production presented by InnerVision Theater, was developed collectively through a yearlong series of workshops that wove together diverse experiences from the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Previous InnerVision Theater productions include Country of the Blind, a live radio drama adapted from a short story by H.G. Wells, and Inner Vision, an improvisational comedy using theatrical clown technique.
Highlights from "Eye of the Storm" by InnerVision Theater
Ultimate Impact examines what we know and don’t know about the climate crisis and our fragile environment, through monologue, sketch comedy, poetry, music and film presented in American Sign Language with English translation. Theater V58 was founded in 2024 to create accessible theater in ASL for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing audiences in Northern California.
Highlights from "Ultimate Impact" by Theater V58
A gaggle of clowns navigates the fears and possibilities of living on this changing, endangered planet in Clowns to the Rescue, an original improvisational fantasy presented by Short Center Repertory. Recent Short Center Rep productions have included A Traveling Clown Theater, a touring production, All Clowns Included, a Zoom-based production featuring performers who are neurodivergent or blind, and A Clown Odyssey, a riff on Homer’s classic created on the Zoom platform.
Highlights from "Clowns to the Rescue" by Short Center Repertory
A community outreach project of Developmental Disabilities Service Organization, Short Center Rep has been creating accessible theater for more than 35 years.
Film festival and visual arts
The festival will feature screenings of short films from Short Center Rep’s past accessible productions featuring neurodivergeant, blind, low-vision, Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing performers.
On Saturday 9/14, the festival will present a Second Saturday exhibition of award-winning visual artists from DDSO’s Short Centers.
Climate Theater
All In: The Festival of Accessible Theater concludes the yearlong Climate Theater project directed by Short Center Repertory in collaboration with InnerVision Theater and Theater V58.
With funding from the Capital Region Creative Corps, Climate Theater invites the communities served by the three theater companies and the broader public to see the climate crisis from the perspectives of those whose voices are seldom heard in discussions about needs and solutions.
All In and the Climate Theater project are also supported by funding from the Sacramento County Transient Occupancy Tax, California Arts Council, and Alan and Mary Short Foundation.
