Pink Umbrella Theater Co: Bringing Inclusion Center Stage
Pink Umbrella Theater Co. was born from a desire to create an inclusive space for artists and actors with disabilities
Founded in 2018 by Executive Director Katie Cummings, Pink Umbrella Theater Co. was born from a desire to create a truly inclusive space for actors and artists with disabilities. This year, Pink Umbrella Theater Co. will bring their programming to the JCC’s summer camps in Whitefish Bay.
Inspired by sensory-friendly theater, the company has been a pioneer in accessible theater experiences in Milwaukee. Pink Umbrella fosters creativity, confidence, and community while ensuring that every individual, regardless of ability, has a place to shine on stage.
In this Q&A with Porch Play Program Lead Rebekah Farr, we explore the theater's mission, its innovative programming, and the profound impact it has on participants and the broader arts community.
Can you share the inspiration/story behind founding Pink Umbrella Theater Co. and its mission to create inclusive theater opportunities for Disabled Actors and Artists?
Pink Umbrella Theater was a spark of an idea by our Executive Director and Founder, Katie Cummings, in April 2018. After working with emerging artists with disabilities for several years, three major factors collided in a timespan of a few days and Pink Umbrella Theater was created.
PINK is in honor of Emily, one of the students Katie worked with for many years. The world through Emily's lens was full of words, sounds, lights and most importantly, laughter. She left an imprint on all that knew her, and while she is no longer with us, her unique perspective drives the mission statement of our company. Emily showed up every week with a new hair-bow, pink being her favorite. Pink is in honor of her, hair-bows and all.
UMBRELLA is an homage to the THE BIG UMBRELLA symposium, hosted by Lincoln Center Education, in New York City. The first of its kind, theater companies from across the nation and the globe shared their work focusing on inclusion and sensory experiences. Katie realized that although there were some limited programs for theater education that included those in the disability community, there wasn't a local theater in Milwaukee that was dedicated to hiring and paying disabled artists to create theater.
Thus with this spark of an idea, and the mission to change the narrative by changing the narrator, Pink Umbrella Theater was born!
As the Porch Play Program Lead, how do you design sensory-immersive experiences that cater to individuals with diverse abilities?
Porch Play succeeds at its sensory immersion by highlighting opportunities for participants to enjoy the story through more than just sight and sound. Each play comes with a bag of fun props and supplies to aide in this exploration, such as scratch-and-sniff stickers shaped like items from the story, a speaker to play soundscapes to make you feel like you are really there, and a magic box that participants can open that engages all of the senses with big and small items to uncover, like digging through a treasure chest.
“Theater is a wonderful tool for building community.”
In porch play we go beyond the physical items to engage our imagination. We might imagine the taste of a sour or sweet apple, or turn found items into our own makeshift spaceshift like Sadie in Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket, or even put a blanket over our heads and become a wise octopus giving advice to The Rainbow Fish. These activities are accessible to all individuals of all abilities.
Some ways we can accommodate for the individual would be by using visuals instead of relying solely on written word, utilizing a white board for those who are nonverbal or might prefer to communicate nonverbally in the moment, and putting a lot of autonomy and movement into the activities for individuals who seek frequent stimulation. It's my pleasure to lead this program as I really enjoy the return to the basics of theater and play. My most favorite part is finding the perfect sensory item to add to each Porch Play.
Could you describe the specific programs or workshops Pink Umbrella Theater Co. will be offering at the JCC's summer camps this year?
For our summer camp, we provide a week-long theater camp that consists of four different classes each day culminating in a final presentation at the end of the week where family and friends can come and watch the students' hard work. The classes are: Acting, Directing, Musical Theater, and Theater Art. Each year is themed; we haven't picked a theme for this year yet but the first year we did Carnival of Animals and last year the theme was Under the Sea. The goal is to teach students the basic skills of theater, give them a safe and accessible place to grow, and most importantly to have fun during their summer break.
What impact do you hope these theater programs will have on campers, and the community?
Theater is a wonderful tool for several things. The first, and most pivotal in my opinion, is building community. Theater is highly collaborative, which requires students to step outside of their typical social shell and build new connections that could last for years to come. Students at the summer camp have a chance of meeting and making new friends in their community, as well as getting acquainted with working theater professionals who teach their classes.
This provides the opportunity to learn more about theater as a job, but also is just a fun community connection that you might recognize Pink Umbrella teachers at a local theater show, or maybe even work with them someday! It's also important for communities to celebrate and honor one another's hard work, and the final presentation provides that important experience.
The second is building community. We pride ourselves in collaborating with the students to create theater that is rooted in the students' ideas and impulses. This empowers students to grow in their confidence in their own creativity and instincts. That skill is important for all life has to throw at you, even outside of the world of art and theater.
How do you collaborate with organizations like the JCC to promote inclusivity and accessibility in community programs?
“Be willing to try things in a new way. ”
The JCC has been one of our best partnerships, and I personally have grown a lot through my collaborations with them. The beauty of building partnerships around the community is that participants get to enjoy the accessible, inclusive spaces that have already been created by our community partners, while also trying something new with Pink Umbrella! All of our community partnerships, the JCC especially, requires a team of people at the partnership who work hard to make the program accessible and functional. We appreciate you, JCC team!
Can you share a memorable experience or success story from a past Porch Play session that highlights the program's benefits?
There are so many examples. I've seen Porch Play bring out a nonverbal student's singing voice that brought tears to the family's eyes. I've seen a very young child with down syndrome become a director of strangers as his creativity and impulses were encouraged by the teacher. One of my favorites is that I was recently leading a warm up, and a participant stopped me and asked if he could lead, and he led it word for word, but with his own confidence and individual voice. Obviously my favorite examples are when the program gives rooms for individuals to step up and shine in their own way! I love being the audience in those moments.
What advice would you give to other arts organizations aiming to create more inclusive and accessible environments?
Assume competency. Trust that if you listen to, collaborate with, and pay disabled artists to be a part of your team that they will create professional work. Further, that they will be a necessary voice on how to improve your space and make it more accessible. Be willing to try things in a new way. And if you're really stuck (shameless plug coming up), Pink Umbrella does provide professional consultations for how to make your space more accessible.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the future of Pink Umbrella Theater Co. and its role in the Milwaukee arts community?
We are working on finding a permanent location and are close to doing so, which will hopefully give our community a space to connect and call home. We are also expanding our leadership team to fill our Artistic Director role. Be on the lookout for that artist to emerge from our pool of very talented disabled artists! We are continuing our collaboration with local theaters in Milwaukee and all of our lovely community partners, such as the JCC. We hope to grow young artists that we meet through programs like Porch Play and the JCC camp who are passionate about theater and accessibility and can take up the mantle for decades to come to keep disability theater alive in Milwaukee.
