The conference “Disability Theatre from 1900 to the Present in German and Italian Disability Studies,” co-organized by our Professor Massimo Salgaro, concluded on Friday, May 9 at Villa Vigoni’s Italo-German Centre for European Dialogue.
From May 6 to 9, 2025, experts in disability studies from Germany, Italy, and other parts of Europe came together to examine a crucial theme: the representation of the disabled body on stage and in dramatic texts from 1900 to the present. It was a moment of in-depth discussion and reflection on how, in the history of European literature, theatrical works have rarely been conceived for actors with disabilities, and on how theatrical theories and institutions have often, albeit unintentionally, reinforced ableism.
Also within the framework of the initiatives promoted by the conference, on Wednesday, May 7, Teatro a Rotelle performed at the Teatro Cristallo Breccia in Como with a reprise of “In principio era la Rupe” (In the Beginning There Was the Cliff).
The performance, the result of the creativity and commitment of the university theatre company’s actors and actresses and directed by Nicoletta Vicentini and Jana Karšaiová, makes an ironic and provocative reference to the Spartan practice of abandoning newborns deemed weak on Mount Taygetus. In principio era la Rupe, staged with great intensity by performers with and without disabilities, offered a powerful and moving reflection on how perceptions of disability have changed over time.