Disability at Mixed Blood

Mixed Blood Theatre aspires to be a key destination for
audiences and artists with disabilities.

Producing work by, with, for, and about individuals with and affected by disabilities is a core part of the company’s mission and vision, earning the organization VSA Arts Access and Met Life Foundation awards, and major grants from the Wallace Foundation, Theatre Communications Group and National Endowment for the Arts.

Mixed Blood is guided by a Disability Liaison and Disability Advisory Council, a volunteer group of individuals who are connected to local and national disability communities, organizations and businesses. The Council reviews and provides feedback on scripts; guides audits of services, physical facilities and amenities; advises on partnerships with organizations serving persons with disabilities; participates in promoting Mixed Blood’s disability-focused programming and services, and; advises staff and board on key human resources issues and policies.

Mixed Blood is embarking on gathering scripts by playwrights with disabilities, with characters with disabilities, and with theme and content about disability. The library, developed in partnership with Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, will be enjoined by a comprehensive database of theater artists with disabilities. Both the library and database will be disseminated and promoted to theater leaders nationwide to expose them to new theatrical literature, to assist them in finding talent to populate those scripts' casts, and to find new audiences from local disability communities.

2012–13 SHOWS

Next To Normal
October 5—November 11, 2012 (preview October 4)
Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama, Next to Normal reveals one family’s struggle with mental illness through the story of Diana, a mother battling bipolar disorder. Her kaleidoscope of feelings—anger, yearning, sorrow, guilt and the memory of what must have been love—coexist in every note in this powerhouse of muscular grace and operatic force.

Theory of Mind (on tour)
October 15–November 11, 2012
In this sensitive yet unsentimental portrait of a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome, Bill's outing with a young woman becomes a memorable, insightful look at the tugs, shifts and about-faces found on the autism spectrum.

Center of the Margins:
A Festival Exploring the Complex World of Disability
Featuring Next to Normal, Theory of Mind, and staged readings of three promising new plays on disability
Saturdays & Sundays, October 20 & 21, 27 & 28

Complimentary Guaranteed Admission
Mixed Blood offers complimentary guaranteed admission for both individual shows and festival or season passes to patrons with disabilities and their companions. Call 612-338-6131, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information and arrangements.

Complimentary Transportation
Mixed Blood has made arrangements with Red and White Taxi to provide complimentary transportation to and from the theatre for our patrons with disabilities. Call 612-338-6131, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information and arrangements. Thank you to VSA Minnesota for supporting our transportation fund.

Offering Access in Many Ways

• Two handicap parking spaces in the theatre’s driveway and on 15th Avenue immediately outside the theatre’s entrance
• A ramp with a power door opener to the handicap accessible theater
• Flexible wheelchair seating
• Accessible bathroom, lobby doors with levers, and a lowered box office window for wheelchair users
• ASL interpreting, audio description, and captioning for each mainstage production
• Listening devices available for all mainstage performances
• Large print programs available for all mainstage performances
• Upcoming improvements: resurfacing the driveway and new lobby water fountain

DVD of On the Spectrum available
A DVD of On the Spectrum is available free of charge thanks to a grant from Theatre Communications Group. Read more about On the Spectrum here, and contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for info about the DVD.

A History of Disability Programming

• The History of Bowling (2002), a comedy by Mike Ervin about invisible and acquired disabilities.
• The Boys Next Door (2002) by Tom Griffin, co-produced with Interact Theater and featuring a cast of people with disabilities.
• Sweet Nothing in My Ear (2003), Stephen Sachs’ dramatic debate about cochlear implants.
• The Deaf Duckling (2005), Aditi Kapil’s touring show about a deaf child born to a hearing family.
• Vestibular Sense (2006), Ken LaZebnik’s award-winning play about a young man with autism.
• Love Person (2008), Aditi Kapil’s acclaimed play examining language, performed in spoken English, ASL, and Sanskrit.
• Distracted (2008), Lisa Loomer’s controversial comedy about ADHD.
• Theory of Mind (2009+), a touring show by Ken LaZebnik about a high school senior with Asperger’s Syndrome.
• Center of the Margins (2011), a festival of 3 plays exploring the complex world of disability: Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph, My Secret Language of Wishes by Cori Thomas, On the Spectrum, by Ken LaZebnik
• Next to Normal (2012), Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about mental illness.
• Center of the Margins (2012), a festival of 2 plays and 3 staged readings exploring the world of disability: Next to Normal, Theory of Mind, Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker, Cyrano by Stephen Sachs, A Nervous Smile by John Belusso.

Awards

• MetLife Access Award presented to Mixed Blood at APAP conference, January 2007.
• The American Theatre Critics Association's Osborn Award presented to playwright Ken LaZebnik at Actor's Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival for his play about autism, Vestibular Sense, March 2007.
• VSA Minnesota Access Award given to Mixed Blood, 2008.
• Aditi Kapil presented with the Stavis Award at the National Theatre Conference in New York for her play Love Person, October 2008.
• Mixed Blood receives a Wallace Excellence Award to develop audiences within disability communities, 2009.
• The American Theatre Critics Association's Steinberg Award citation presented to playwright Ken LaZebnik at Actor's Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival for his play about autism, On The Spectrum, March 2012.
• A-ha! grant from MetLife/TCG to assemble a comprehensive national database of both artists with disabilities and English-language plays that explore worlds of disability, 2012.