DMP Pitch

Brinley’s interview offers key insight to our questions about how disabilities affect relationships and what vulnerability means in connection to oneself and those around us. In response to the question “How has this experience impacted your relationships?” Brinley shared insight about her back both strengthening and burdening her relationships. She shared the common phrase of not wanting others to see her as “broken” because of her disability. But she also shares that her pain has made her more reliant on those close to her, such as her parents, which has strengthened her relationship with them. This answer of being broken could be presented in physical form. Since being broken is an emotional description of one’s inner feelings, it could be interesting for the audience to see a representation that uses our bodies to portray what being broken looks like in a physical medium. We could also overlay other video or audio recordings of people’s verbal description of being “broken” on top of our physical presentation to add depth. If we go on to include Brinley’s answer of her disability strengthening her relationship with her parents, transitioning from the “broken” representation to a “strengthening” representation using our bodies would also provide an interesting visual contrast for the audience. When asked “What does it mean to be vulnerable to others,” Brinley offered the beautiful point that being vulnerable is opening up and letting others see the “not so glamorous sides” of you because that is how people will really “come to know you and know how to help you.” She added that being vulnerable with yourself is letting yourself trust others and allowing those “who want to help you to help you.” This answer would be engaging to present as verbatim theatre. Brinley takes time to sincerely reflect on her answers, stumbling over her thoughts and adding in appropriate filler words and pauses. These natural missteps would make the answer seem much more real and relatable to the audience. Brinley concluded her interview by emphasizing the importance of allowing oneself time to reflect and feel validated in what you are going both from yourself and others. It would be really fascinating to take Brinley’s advice and give the audience a few moments to validate themselves in their struggles while we play some quiet, soothing music in the background. Through this engaging experience, the audience could participate in our presentation via their own reflections. Brinley’s interview offers sincere responses that lead to many creative possibilities. Her answers prove artistically rich in response to the key questions of our presentation.