An introductory guide to writing differently abled characters, and how to avoid the dangerous tropes of disability in theatre. This workshop will look at the continuing ways writers, even with the best of intensions, stigmatize differently abled populations, and how we can work to not make the same mistakes in our own writing.
Jef Petersen is a playwright, director, actor, and member of the Dramatist Guild. He is an Instructor at Lewis-Clark State College and the College of Western Idaho. They’re the KCACTF National Playwriting Program Chair for Region VII. His plays, “The Naked Play”, and “An Elaborate System of Ropes and Pulleys”, have been performed all over the United States. “Emme and the Taking of the Woods, Jef’s newest play”, premiered this past year. They hold an MFA in Dramatic Writing and Directing from the University of Idaho, and an MA in Theatre Arts from the University of Oregon.
