ALL IN: The Festival of Accessible Theater was launched in Fall 2024 by Short Center Repertory in collaboration with InnerVision Theater and Theater V58 as a local cultural institution that presents and celebrates theater without barriers.
Aspiring actors who are neurodivergent, blind, low-vision, Deaf or hard-of-hearing rarely have the opportunity to perform or to explore and develop their talents and skills. Mainstream theater almost never casts a person who is neurodivergent, blind or Deaf, except as the (rare) character with one of those characteristics. (Until the past generation or so, people of color experienced similar casting barriers for similar reasons.)
Due to socioeconomics and the lack of accessibility at most theater venues, audiences from these communities have limited access to theater and rarely see themselves or the reality of their experiences reflected onstage. For audiences from mainstream society, accessible theater may be their first encounter with these people and their stories.
ALL IN puts differently abled actors at the center of the creative process and centers their experiences and perspectives.
