24% of the UK is disabled - a percentage not yet reflected on stage and screen.

Disabled people are people with impairments including but not limited to: physical impairment, neurodivergence, chronic illness, deafness, visual impairment, mental health conditions and learning disability.

However disability is not simply a medical construct - it is a social, cultural and political identity. It defines how we see the world and how the world sees us.

Our bodies and minds function outside of the norm; and society wasn’t, and still isn’t, structured for us to succeed. 

To learn and develop a more inclusive practice, we must acknowledge the pitfalls that currently pervade and cause disabled exclusion. Below are the three categories of non-equitable practice that we believe to be biggest barriers to societally-reflective disabled casting. 

Disabled Mimicry: Disabled mimicry is non-disabled people playing disabled characters and inauthentically imitating impairment. 

Disabled Erasure: Disabled erasure is altering or removing impairment from a disabled character, story or narrative.  

Disabled Absence: Disabled absence is where casting defaults to non-disabled people, resulting in disabled people and/or disability being not present within the work.

It’s important to ensure that disabled characters are played by disabled actors; but also that disabled actors are seen for a range of roles not pertaining to disability.

It is a non-disabled perspective to require justification for a character to be disabled - but this is not reality. Disabled people exist in every aspect of life. We should not impose limits or delegations to the roles in which disabled people belong. Consider disabled actors for all roles: not just those with explicit mention of disability or traits.

To counter the mimicry and erasure, we’ve created a Disability Characteristics Casting Method. 

Where a specific medical condition is explicitly named, or can be derived as such from the text, best practice is to cast someone with that specific condition.

For example:

• Christopher Boone - Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens 

• Captain Ahab - Moby Dick by Herman Melville

• Tiresias - Oedipus Rex by Sophocles 

• Diana Goodman - Next to Normal by Brain Yorkey

• Billy and Sylvia - Tribes by Nina Raine

However, sometimes that specific medical condition isn’t named, or there aren’t any actors available with that condition, and, in those instances, it’s useful to look at characteristics, traits and experiences to ensure proper casting. 

For example:

• Goody Proctor - The Crucible by Arthur Miller

• Simon - Lord of the Flies by William Goulding

• Laura - The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams 

• Clov - Endgame by Samuel Beckett

• Caliban - The Tempest by William Shakespeare

For some of these characters, it’s about the experience of social disability. For others, it’s the experience of impairment - the characteristics exhibited are synonymous across multiple conditions. 

Casting authentically creates an opportunity for a deeper, creative interpretation of character - from both casting directors and actors - and widens possibilities. 

If after an extensive search it seems there’s no actor who’s an exact match, then it’s about finding a disabled person that aligns most with the characteristics/traits displayed by the character. It is not about defaulting to a non-disabled or non-appropriately disabled person performing disabled mimicry. 

Within multiply marginalised communities, we recognise this will be more difficult, and this is where continual consultation and conversation with disabled disability arts experts is essential. We suggest an experienced Disability Dramaturg, Disability Arts Expert, Disabled Script Editor. This can, but doesn’t always, overlap with the remit of an accessibility consultant. This is not the work of an Access Support Worker. 

Whilst examining text ahead of the audition process, we recommend analysing character using the below list. This rubric ensures a sliding scale from more obvious impairment to non-overt disability. 

This list is best utilised in two stages of the process. Firstly being used in the textual analysis/interpretation stage to find traits and behaviours exhibited by character (through dialogue, descriptions, appearance etc) to create a “set”. Secondly, when established, this “set” of traits can then be used within the casting breakdown and availability checks. 

If there is something that you are unsure about in the script, contact an appropriately experienced disability sensitivity reader for a second opinion and support. 

When receiving submissions from agents and actors, use the “set” to remain as faithful as possible to the experience of the character during the audition process; whilst serving the other aspects of the brief and determining suitability for the part.

This is not just about the appearance of authenticity; but the lived experience that will create a more nuanced, deeper and richer creative performance. 

Traits and Characteristics List

Speech: Stuttering, stammering, cluttering, lisp; ticcing; muffled speech; slow speech; slurred speech; interrupted speech; disfluency; monotone tonality; compulsive speech; echolalia; coprolalia; hyper-verbal. 

Communication: sign language user; comprehension of speech; comprehension of body language; concentration; non-verbal; lip-reading; tactile signing; illiteracy; disinhibition; social awareness. 

Movement: spatial awareness; ticcing; stimming; spasms; tremors; limping; walking gait; shuffling; paralysis; spasticity; balance; co-ordination; pain; fatigue; dyskinetic facial expressions.

Mobility: The character’s ability to mobilise is impaired. They may need to use a mobility aid; not be able to walk unassisted; experience pain; ambulatory wheelchair users; dynamic disability. 

Accessibility Aids: wheelchairs; walking sticks; crutches; white canes; hearing aids; cochlear implants, service animals; prosthetics; AAC device; oxygen; feeding tubes; stoma bag; mobility scooters; glucose monitors/insulin pumps; helmets; splints; ear defenders; fidget toys; carers; support workers. 

Sensory: vision impairment; Blind, blinded, Deaf, deafened, Deafblind.

Physical Appearance: limb differences; facial differences; scars; height differences; stature differences; posture differences; albinism; skeletal/muscular differences, Downs Syndrome; chromosomal conditions. 

Personal Medical Need: seizures; meltdowns; shutdowns; incontinence; PTSD flashbacks, immuno-compromised; organ functionality differences; medications.

There are also clues or signifiers to a character being disabled such as prejudice, social isolation, othering attitudes, ableism, culture, and experience of access in the physical world. In this case, without specific characteristics or traits, cast more broadly.

Within historical texts, modern day disability language is non-evident. When tackling these, look out for outdated terms; signifiers of characteristics as above; references to monstrousness, deformity, intelligence markers; as well as roles such as fools and jesters. 

Acquired Impairment:

A character acquiring an impairment during a story is often used as an excuse for not casting appropriately. Whilst each narrative is bespoke, there is an inclusive solution. CGI, makeup, prosthetics, camera angles, design and even suspension of disbelief have long been employed to fashion disability for non-disabled actors. Why can’t this be reverse engineered?

Where the above is not possible, it is advised to consult a Disability Dramaturg to discuss options such as the fluctuating experience of an actor’s disability; job sharing; or indeed shared casting, denoting pre and post disability. A good reference point is Little Big Things at @sohoplace(2024). 

Multi-rolling:

In the case of multi-rolling parts where an actor will play a selection of disabled and non-disabled roles, our advice would be to cast an actor with lived experience of the disability mentioned, and allow for their artistic interpretation of the other characters on the track. This may involve adapting the presentation of the non-disabled characters to temporarily conceal the actor’s disability, moving around tracks to better suit your actor, or exploring a disabled interpretation of the non-disabled characters - all led by the actor and what is accessible and interesting to them.

When creating a Spotlight breakdown, this is how you might apply the above method.

Specific disability: “We are looking specifically for an actor with Motor Neurone Disease for this part.”

Disability traits: “We are looking for a chronically ill actor who experiences chronic pain and fatigue.”

Combination: “We are looking for an actor who’s a below-elbow amputee, but we are open to actors with upper limb differences.”

It may be a Spotlight search does not provide a wide enough casting field. 

This is due to multiple factors. Not all disabled actors include their disability status on their Spotlight profile. Disabled actors experience barriers to entering the industry through traditional routes so may not have access to established casting platforms. Spotlight broadly categorises disability so it’s difficult to identify traits or characteristics. 

To tackle this we suggest making disability specific Spotlight breakdowns public to all members; searching ProFile performers, as well as circulating an open call through established disabled arts’ networks and on social media in a range of accessible formats. 

When conducting the audition process, discussions of disability should be treated with respect, care and consideration to ensure the actor’s dignity is maintained. Refrain from irrelevant, invasive questioning and instead let the disabled actor lead that conversation if they so wish. 

Once rehearsals and production have started, it’s important to safeguard against disabled mimicry brought about through artistic interpretation of character. This is not to stifle creativity or exploration, but to protect the robust enabling process that’s come before. 

This includes, but is not limited to: diagnosing your characters with mental health conditions and neurodivergence; or adding a limp, mobility aid or scars. 

Disability is not a ‘quirk’ to outwardly express the inner world of a character, or an aesthetic addition to add to the tone of the piece or presentation of character - these are experiences and characteristics of real people in the disabled community. If these traits are discovered to be crucial to the character’s portrayal then we would advise to recast an actor with the suitable lived experience.

However, if an actor within the room wishes to bring their own lived experience of disability not previously disclosed to the character, then we should give space for that. 

Oftentimes, conversation and initiative around disability are halted through fear of ‘getting it wrong’. This framework is to prevent that insecurity and unsureness; to empower those involved to feel confident in the casting process and make informed decisions. 

The process of Disability Conscious Casting can be very nuanced, and may create circumstances and conversations not covered in this framework. In those scenarios we encourage you to expand your engagement to disability leaders, disabled practitioners/experts, Disability Dramaturgs. disabled-led companies, in order to make the best possible choices.

Authentic and reflective disability casting has genuine impacts on wider society. Trusting disabled people as reliable narrators of their own stories, and dismantling the view that disability is something to be hidden or worn as a temporary guise, emboldens disabled rights and lives. 

Crucially, it will enhance the quality of the art; create textured and nuanced portrayals; reaching heights only achievable by those who understand what it truly means to live disabled lives -  furthering our shared goal as artists: to boldly wield story in the consistent pursuit of more societal empathy. 

We have a duty as artists to forefront progression, document history, hold tight to truth, envision what a better future could be. This framework is our community’s contribution to that. 

In solidarity,

DAA