World Premiere of "From Where I Sit"

I'm staring in a play I helped write, come watch it!

I’ve been working on the co-created theater show From Where I Sit for the past two years and it’s finally ready to debut!

The show features the stories from people like me who live with spinal cord illness or injury. It’s funny, it’s inclusive, there’s singing! It’s the final performance from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Disability Arts Festival.

Two of the performances (on May 10 and 11) will be live-streamed and free tickets can be reserved here.

I’ve also helped edit and designed an Anthology of the written pieces that inspired the show’s script.

This whole project has been really important to me and I hope some of you can come along to watch! ♿💙🎭

This link is for Saturday at 7pm Central Time/ 1am UK

This one is for Sunday at 2pm Central/ 8pm UK

This co-created theater piece is being presented in hybrid form both online and live in Birmingham, Alabama. Our director is Suzanne Costello who’s long career includes producing new theatrical works featuring those impacted by cancer, incarceration, and now spinal cord damage.

The innovative performance work, From Where I Sit, is being peformed on the stage of the Alys Stephens Center at the University of Alabama Birmingham. A performance livestream is available on Saturday, May 10th and Sunday, May 11th. This performance is the culmination of three years of work with a national cast of individuals impacted by Spinal Cord Injury or MS. Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, this project developed from SPDT’s ongoing partnership with the UAB Arts in Medicine Program in Birmingham, Alabama. This extensive project is also supported by the Dana & Christopher Reeve Foundation and the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation.

Suzanne is delighted to be working on this project with Broadway performer & composer, Anita Hollander. Ms. Hollander has performed throughout the world at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, London’s West End, NY Shakespeare Festival, Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, and the White House. An amputee and cancer survivor, Anita has served as National Chair of SAG-AFTRA Performers with Disabilities Committee, working with all entertainment guilds toward more media inclusion of performers with disabilities. Her contributions towards From Where I Sit have been invaluable.

We are honored to premier this unique performance work at the UAB Disability Arts Festival. From Where I Sit will share participants' stories, uncovering the people beyond their diagnoses. Presented at Lakeshore Foundation on May 8 and UAB’s Alys Stephens Sirote Theater on May 10 & 11, these FREE performances are open to the public. A published anthology of the participants' writings will be released in conjunction with the performances.

From wherever you are, all are invited to attend these performances, which will challenge stereotypes of disability and shed light on these individuals’ unique stories.

This has truly been a llfe-changing residency for me to live and work on a creative project with other disabled writers and actors. I hope you’ll watch!