Unlabeled Theatre Company

Unlabeled Theatre Company is on a mission to flip the script - about access, disability, and live theatre. Unlabeled Theatre produces unified theatre performances. Two actors perform each role - one actor-artist with a disability is paired with a partner who does not have a disability. Pairs are based on the specific needs and abilities of each actor-artist.  In their inaugural season, UTC will debut four performances! 

Across the US, there are only ten inclusive theatre programs for adults. This is the first open unified theatre company for adults in Minnesota and throughout the Upper Midwest. We know art connects people to new experiences and new ways of thinking. Studies show that art moves the mind across multiple fields in the brain. A 27-year-old actor-artist who had barely spoken his entire life was able to sing a song in a performance of Oklahoma! This new expression pathway was debuted to family, friends, and a full audience. 

What We Do

The full scope of Unlabeled Theatre Company work includes:

1. Our inclusive theatre performances, featuring artist-actors with disabilities

2. Meaningful employment for adults with disabilities across our organization; also intentionally hiring freelance artists with disabilities for photography, graphic design, layout, artwork, etc.

3. Daily arts-centered classes designed to increase life skills in community involvement, personal independence, health & wellness, vocational abilities and more

4. Developing and marketing inclusive theatre programming to high schools and colleges across the United States

When you have a disability, you live with a lot of labels. Labels that other people put on you. In some cases, you have labels slapped on you before you’re even born. Most of those labels aren’t particularly helpful. Some are downright nasty. It’s an attempt to try and ‘categorize’ and put people in different boxes. The problem is that the vast majority of those labels revolve around what a person CAN’T do. They’re negative. And as those labels pile up, you can start to internalize them. You start to believe everything you CAN’T do because of how you get labeled. How boring. How limiting! 

So let’s flip the script. There are a ton of things each of us can’t do. What’s FAR more interesting is: what CAN you do? Let’s start our focus there, and build something incredible around that. So, we’re ripping off those labels.