An in-depth account of making theatre that involves people with intellectual disabilities, based on 18 years of experience. Written for a growing market of theatre-makers, company leaders and performers making contemporary theatre with an inclusive attitude. Distinct from other books in this area by virtue of being an insider account from a highly experienced practitioner, drawing on the voices of his company as a whole.

An in-depth account of making theatre that involves people with intellectual disabilities, based on 18 years of experience. Written for a growing market of theatre-makers, company leaders and performers making contemporary theatre with an inclusive attitude. Distinct from other books in this area by virtue of being an insider account from a highly experienced practitioner, drawing on the voices of his company as a whole.

Incapacity and Theatricality acknowledges the distinctive contribution to contemporary theatrical performance made by actors with intellectual disabilities. It presents a close examination of certain key theatrical performances across a variety of different media, including John Cassavetes' 1963 social issues film A Child Is Waiting; the performance art collaboration between Robert Wilson and Christopher Knowles; and the provocative pranksterism of Christoph Schlingensief's talent show mockumentary FreakStars 3000. Tracing a global path of performances, Incapacity and Theatricality offers an analysis of how actors with intellectual disabilities have emerged onto the main stage, and how their inclusion calls into question long-held assumptions about both theatre and intellectual disability. For postgraduate students, or anyone interested in the shifting dynamics of twenty-first century theatre, McCaffrey's work offers a vital consideration of the intersubjective relations between people with and without intellectual disabilities and ultimately addresses urgent questions about the situation and representation of the contemporary subject caught up somewhere between incapacity and theatricality.

Incapacity and Theatricality acknowledges the distinctive contribution to contemporary theatrical performance made by actors with intellectual disabilities. It presents a close examination of certain key theatrical performances across a variety of different media, including John Cassavetes' 1963 social issues film A Child Is Waiting; the performance art collaboration between Robert Wilson and Christopher Knowles; and the provocative pranksterism of Christoph Schlingensief's talent show mockumentary FreakStars 3000. Tracing a global path of performances, Incapacity and Theatricality offers an analysis of how actors with intellectual disabilities have emerged onto the main stage, and how their inclusion calls into question long-held assumptions about both theatre and intellectual disability. For postgraduate students, or anyone interested in the shifting dynamics of twenty-first century theatre, McCaffrey's work offers a vital consideration of the intersubjective relations between people with and without intellectual disabilities and ultimately addresses urgent questions about the situation and representation of the contemporary subject caught up somewhere between incapacity and theatricality.

Providing a solid media-philosophical groundwork, the book contributes to the theory of alterity in Performance Philosophy, while stimulating and inspiring future inquiries where studies in media, art, and literature intersect with philosophy. It collects a selective as well as productive diversity of philosophical, literary, and artistic figures of thought, attaining an exacting framework as a result of a clearly elaborated ethics of alterity, innovatively opened up by way of an aisthetics of existence: Touching upon the Aristotelian concept of aisthesis, the material, perceptual and sensory dimensions of everyday bodily existence are highlighted to move beyond what aesthetics in Modern Philosophy just specializes in, namely art and the beautiful. The notion of existence is therefore borrowed from Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who understands it as something concrete and richly interrelated, so as to avoid the dualisms both of psychological processes of consciousness and of physiological mechanisms. It is thus made explicit such that the unity of body and soul is not any arbitrarily arranged connection between “subject� and “object� but, rather, that it is enacted at every instant in the movement of existence. Imaginatively then, the book puts into writing how alterity not only can be treated theoretically but can be also made accessible through writing as well as rendered relatable through reading. That is why it deals with exemplary interpersonal encounters in the lifeworld, in the arts, and in the media, which are initially thematized as intercorporeal experiences, so as to enable an approach for an ethics of alterity by way of, in particular, sites located within a phenomenology of perception oriented towards the lived body.

Are schools smart enough to detect the cognitive diversity of students? In this book we will discuss a framework that will help teachers identify the talents of their students.

Are schools smart enough to detect the cognitive diversity of students? In this book we will discuss a framework that will help teachers identify the talents of their students.

The overall purpose of the book is to present (1) the best science on creativity and innovation in the most practical way possible and (2) a new way of teaching called the Nonsense Method, which relies on humans' incredible ability to create sense out of apparent nonsense and have fun while doing it. The central theory of the book, the Obscure Features Hypothesis for Innovation (OFH), is the first approach to innovation that yields effective counter techniques to all known cognitive obstacles to innovation. The OFH states that any creative solution is built upon at least one commonly overlooked (i.e., obscure) or new feature of the problem. Each chapter ends with puzzles that relate to the cognitive obstacle and counter technique discussed in the chapter. Two hints and a solution for each puzzle are given at the book's end. The Nonsense Method of Teaching focuses upon universal puzzles that can be adapted to any subject. These universal puzzles situate vocabulary words and ideas from any subject matter in situations that need to be connected and thus made sense of.

The overall purpose of the book is to present (1) the best science on creativity and innovation in the most practical way possible and (2) a new way of teaching called the Nonsense Method, which relies on humans' incredible ability to create sense out of apparent nonsense and have fun while doing it. The central theory of the book, the Obscure Features Hypothesis for Innovation (OFH), is the first approach to innovation that yields effective counter techniques to all known cognitive obstacles to innovation. The OFH states that any creative solution is built upon at least one commonly overlooked (i.e., obscure) or new feature of the problem. Each chapter ends with puzzles that relate to the cognitive obstacle and counter technique discussed in the chapter. Two hints and a solution for each puzzle are given at the book's end. The Nonsense Method of Teaching focuses upon universal puzzles that can be adapted to any subject. These universal puzzles situate vocabulary words and ideas from any subject matter in situations that need to be connected and thus made sense of.