In this episode of Special Ed Rising: No Parent Left Behind, we explore the transformative power of inclusive theater with ArtStream, a nonprofit creating opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to perform, create, collaborate, and tell their own stories.

Joining me are Hayley Cutler, MFA, Artistic Director of ArtStream, and Audrian Forsythe, an ArtStream performer since its founding in 2005 who is entering his 21st season.

keywords inclusive theater, disability arts, community building, improvisation, original productions, arts and advocacy, peer support, arts education, accessibility in arts, creative collaboration

key topics

• The history and mission of Artstream
• The process of devising original theater with actors with disabilities
• The role of improvisation and collaboration in artistic development
• The impact of inclusive arts on community and confidence
• The integration of families and support networks in arts programs
• The importance of authentic representation and 'nothing about us without us'
• The growth of actors from beginners to professionals
• The benefits of arts for advocacy and self-expression

Sound Bites

• "Every piece is original, every story is unique"
• "Nothing about us without us"
• "Everyone deserves a chance to perform their art"

Chapters

00:00Introduction to Artstream and its mission

01:57The process of creating original inclusive theater

09:50The role of improvisation and collaboration

19:56Impact on actors' confidence and community

30:00Family involvement and community support

39:59The growth of actors and the importance of authentic representation

49:56Future aspirations and performances around the world

Website: https://art-stream.org/

Specialedrising.com

Ray's Respite Care: https://www.gofundme.com/f/join-rays-respite-care-mission

Haley and Adrian, thank you so much for being here today on the show. It is such a pleasure to meet you both and to have you here.

I'm extra excited myself because I used to be on the stage as a performer and then behind the stage as a director with my students in the School for the Deaf that I that I worked in. So I did plays and directed them for like twenty-seven years. And so I'm excited to hear your perspective and what your take is on the experience for the performer, experience for the family, the audience, all that stuff. Because I have my own stories about that stuff, which I'm

Thank you.

not gonna dominate this with,

Okay. So here we are. And I want to talk here about your experience. I'm just saying I'm excited because I relate. So, Haley, you want to start us out, just kind of give us a little background about Artstream and

Sure.

And then a little background about yourself and Adrian wanna hear a little background about yourself and we'll just go from there. It'd be wonderful.

Great.

Mark, thank you so much for having us. We are really excited to be here and to talk about all the great things that Artstream does and has done.

Artstream just celebrated its 20th anniversary, so we have been making theater with actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the DC region for

Thank

20 years. We're entering our 21st season, and Adrian is also entering his 21st season with Artstream. So he's one of yeah, he's one of our many

Nice after that.

Thank

actors who have been with us since the beginning. It's pretty incredible.

So yeah, Artstream is founded by five incredible teaching artists who were working sort of in and around each other, and in and around imagination stage, which is another

fabulous organization in the DC area in Bethesda. and we do a number of things, but the thing that we sort of are known the most for and that really is the heart that everything at Artstream orbits around is our inclusive theater company program. We have six inclusive theater companies and each of them has a

Cast of about 15 to 17 actors with IDDs, and they work collaboratively with a team of theater professionals. So a director, sometimes a co director, assistant director, choreographer, composer slash music director, and a stage manager to create new original theater works. We have a devised theater process over the course of six months. So this is a really

creative, really collaborative process and I think that's what sets us apart from other disability theater organizations where we are

Not setting repertory on our actors and asking them to conform to a character or role that already exists, but we are working with them really collaboratively to develop a story that reflects their creativity, their imagination, their wants and needs. And I think that really sets us apart and is why we've had such longevity.

Wow, so

it's all original. Every everything we create is original. Wow, that's amazing.

Yep, so we do all original work. Yeah. Yeah, it's

pretty incredible. So I I love to give the example that, you know, a lot of folks with autism have special interests. So we might have somebody who has a special interest in trains and then somebody who has a special interest in Brittany Spears or any, you know, anything you can think of.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, anything in the

world, right.

And

so it's the responsibility of our actors in improvisational process with our creative teams to get Britney Spears onto a train. so you

Ha ha.

know our scripts are really exciting. they often live in these fantastical worlds. so we do a lot of world building, a lot of character building, and it's just a really

strong sort of proven process of collaboration across the spectrum of neurodiversity.

That's amazing. So everyone is in the process of creating the presentation. From the

Yeah.

player to the choreographer to the director to everybody.

Yeah. And each of our directors works slightly differently. each of them is an artist on their own. They have their own methodologies, but they work within a greater art stream model of division and of the device process. And usually it starts with

some improvisation, it moves into some character development, some scene building, and yeah, it's a a truly, truly collaborative process. I would say a lot of our actors spend the summer thinking about

what they're interested in right now and they sometimes come in, ready to roll with a character in mind. And that's a great challenge for for the whole team.

you're basically putting all your egos aside because

Mm-hmm.

as we know in this field it could be very ego driven, right? And people want to be center stage. You're an actor, you know, you're a performer. So to be able to have that communal inclusive everything matters and it's not just my way, everything is important is is an amazing life lesson for everyone.

Yes.

and what an example you're setting.

for all your performers.

Yeah,

and it really, I would say it really breeds artistic excellence because you really have to challenge yourself to let go of that ego, let go of your preconceived ideas of what might happen. And so our professionals who come and work with us are learning every day. It's not just our actors who are learning every day.

Sure.

So it's I would I would wonder if im if improvisation is a big part of the process then. Is that true?

It's a huge part.

I would love for Audrian to talk about the improv,

Yeah.

because I know that you that's something that you really love, Audrian. Is that right?

Yes, I do.

We use the improv to gather ideas to put into the script. How each character helps the other character.

It some part of improv, when we show everyone each other.

How do you find that process of working collaboratively with the other actors in the give and the take and the learning from each other and what might spark something in you that somebody else is giving you? How's that process for you?

It's really about how everyone is helping each other out. So it's not

Think about it out, yeah.

just the director doing things, helping things out. It's about each character helping each other out. It's about how we are developing a community, developing a

Right.

real community.

I love it Being

Yeah.

part of something special means it's and I think being in the Artstream company is special

I know, it just gives me like a warm feeling. There we go.

Yeah. I would imagine it feel it's

like a family feeling at this point, right? I mean twenty years.

yeah, you're

yeah.

I just wanna reflect on Adrien talking about that it's not just the director, right? It's it's you know the director might have an idea of how a rehearsal is going to go, but once the actors are in that improvisational mode.

things unfold in sort of a spontaneous way a lot of times. It's really, I think, exciting. I get to go to rehearsals all the time and it's really exciting to witness.

Yeah, the story reveals itself over time, right? You can go with this preconceived

Mm-hmm.

notion, but it can go in completely different direction. And you have to be willing and able to just allow that to happen,

Exactly. The other problem is that if like, if there's somebody who is struggling or if somebody's not verbal

everyone comes around to that person and helps that person.

Can you give me an example of that, Adrian

It sounds like...

one person, she's she's down syndrome, non-verbal and

We're trying to figure out what kind of ideas to put into the improvisation, to put into the script. And so all the actors are like asking her questions. And then we all come around and figure that out, having it all together.

Wow,

Cool.

I think that the fact

that you all have known each other for so long, or a a lot of you have known each other for so long, there's there's a lot of friendship there, there's a lot of shared interest there. a lot of our actors either live around with or near each other, they hang out,

They get to know each other in a way that really supports the artistry. I think the deeper the relationship, the more kind of creative you can be and the more you can understand what your fellow actor needs.

Yes,

right. You can go a lot deeper

Thank you.

as the friendships get deeper, you can go deeper in the actual process of the creativity. Yeah.

And like I said, it's about community because Artstream it's not just about the companies or the production on the place or anything else. It's about us going somewhere all together. It's better than being in the house with your parents. You

Sure. Sure.

actually get to create friendships, lasting friendships and that's one of the biggest benefits of on stream.

Mm-hmm. you bring up the point of the family and I'm curious, we've now spoken about the benefit of supporting each other within the cast and the troupe. how are your families responding to these experiences? Because you're not home with them all the time because you're out and you have this you have this in your life that

Okay.

you love that you're a part of, and it's just like your job and your world.

so our families are incredibly involved. They see the benefit to their adult children, and sooner or later they end up being part of the Artstream community in a deeper way. So Adrian's dad, for example, is a board member. right, Adrian? Yep.

That's right.

And we

Yeah.

have a lot of parents who end up joining our volunteer mentor program.

and they might be in the same company as their adult child, or they might decide to be in another company, so that there's a little bit of you know separation there. and yeah, they're really engaged, they're excited when we have community focused events, we have these season launch parties.

They are donors, they're board

Thank you.

members, they are helping to make props, they're donating costumes, they are donating their time and energy. And I grew up in dance and I know that

we called it like the lobby parents. you know, if you're we have a lot of lobby parents are soon where they're sitting in there waiting and 20 years of sitting in a lobby with other parents, you're building really deep friendships yourself. and I think that that's that's really special.

can also view that as an element of respite where they have two hours every week where they are in conversation in a relaxed way, in a way that they can choose to be a part of or not with other parents who might be going through the same things that they're going through.

Right, so it's an opportunity for like peer mentoring with parents, you know, and parents instantaneously. I love that lobby parent term, I never heard of that before. you know, but

Thank you.

Sure, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

it's also too, I wonder, Adrian, you know, this is your thing, right? So I love that the

Mm-hmm.

families are all involved, but I like the idea that some the parents will work in other troops, other groups necessarily, not to be in your world all the time. You need

Yeah.

to have your independence and your own experiences, right? Is that important for you?

Absolutely, But I think one of the benefits, like a long time ago, I remember my parents would go out with like other parents. So they get to build friendships too.

Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. I l I love that idea. Because, you know, parents

Yeah, I I also

are out there on their own a lot and they're feeling like alone and not knowing what to do, so they're having each other. Yeah. Go ahead, Haley, I'm sorry you

Yeah,

yeah, I think that another thing that I've committed to, that I've always been committed to as a teacher of the performing arts is that we really don't allow parents to be in the rehearsal room. they're welcome at auditions and they're welcome at occasional observation days, things like that. But

I

think it's important for both parties, the parents, the caretakers, and also our actors. Of course, you know, there are situations where if we have an actor who needs, 24-7 care partnership, that person can be in the room. But these are adults, these are actors who are working in a professional capacity with us and

they deserve to have that time and it's a really good lesson for the parents to

also take that time for themselves. Yeah. Like us Your words, Adrian your words, not mine. Yeah, yeah. It it yeah, yeah. And let me show you

guy. Yeah, yes.

Let go. Exactly. Let me be me. Yeah.

Thank

that I'm, a capable, confident adult. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that was

Hey,

what okay, Adrian, go ahead.

and sometimes thank you when this again I dance events parents will stay I sound like nothing to do but with Artstream The actors has friends and then the parents have friends and so then they can just go guys we are in good hands with the

Yes.

True, right. Then parents feel more comfortable, right? They can they can trust that you're gonna you're okay, you're in a good place.

And some of the people that I act with I actually knew them from Imagination stage a long time ago something actually came from Imagination stage

Okay. So imagination stage is the one in Bethesda you were referring to earlier.

I was really...

Yeah,

Imagination

Right.

Stage is an incredible theater arts organization, school.

Performing arts space. they have a program called Pegasus. They've been doing disability theater for a long time with a focus on youth. And so a lot of our adult actors trained at Imagination Stage together

Came from there. Okay.

and then came, and and that pipeline is still really strong. We still are in partnership with Imagination Stage.

We

share a lot of teaching artists. I'm also a former Artstream teaching artist and a former Imagination Stage teaching artist. There's a lot

Are you?

of yeah, there's a lot of crossover, a lot of

Crossover. Yeah.

yeah, I was in a meeting with the Access folks at Imagination Stage.

just I think last week, talking about more ways that we can collaborate and it's always fun to chat about, you know, how certain actors are doing now and you

Mm-hmm.

know where folks have gone. So

Yeah. That must be really cool to see the growth, right? And be able to discuss

Thank

right and make those c those connections.

And and really what Adrian is saying is I mean, these

are some of these friendships are 30 years on, you know, what it for those folks who came all the way. And I think that that comfortability that many of our actors have together also allows for

the welcoming in of new folks.

you

So we have new actors joining Imagination or joining Artstream every

That's right.

day. And

we where there's this confidence where the welcoming in is really important.

So like Haley said, there was Pegasus. There was two other companies along with Pegasus. It was Icarus and Wings. And those were like the adult companies. Those two have stopped for some reason. I have no idea why.

Okay, okay.

Did you come from the Pegasus? Were you with imagination stage earlier in your life?

Even before Imagination Stage started. It actually started with the Bethesda Academy Performing Arts. That transformed into Imagination Stage. And then, it transformed into Artstream Artstream

So you've been with Pegasus and you've grown through that and then to Artstream.

Yes,

And you've been

I think.

so you've been acting for how many years then? So how old were you when you started?

So, I'm 27 and I acted since I was 5.

Wow. Okay. So

Yeah.

you're a pro. You are officially a pro.

Yeah.

Acting has really changed my life

How so?

I think gave me the opportunities not just in acting but in advocacy. I am now working in a national advocacy organization.

for secondary education i got opportunities to public speak i mean acting gave me a whole new world

something to believe in, it's something that I grew, I progress, I gained confidence, and Artstream really proves that. And I've also seen a lot of other people developing those exact same skills

in Artstream and it's wonderful.

that's amazing, man. I'm so happy for you. That's such a great story and I'm so happy because I know that's the the same for a lot of other people. Haley, what were you

I think,

saying? Sorry.

yeah, I think I think that ArtStreams process, and I really want to shout out our five founders, Patty Wolsey, Patty Krauss, Amelia O'Connor, Nick Stearns, and Sally Kinka. They

you

over time really developed such a specific process that

Thank

is so geared towards

With IDDs specifically, that the confidence that we see is incredible, the ability to public speak is incredible. And you really don't get that when you

you

are doing repertory. You might get it a little bit, but I think that it's

Kind

of being forced to go through the improvisational process, being forced to go through that collaborative process instead of just, learning your lines from a script that you might not relate to is really

Script. Yes.

the thing that that builds so many skills. It builds those deep friendships. Yeah, it's a really special kind of niche that we've got.

Niche, yeah.

because you're constantly thinking and creating. It like you said, you're not just following the path and being the sheep that's being directed and and just memorizing

Right. Right.

words that as you said might mean nothing to you. This is your part of the creative process. And I mean what what an evolution in your own development that creates, you know?

Right. Yeah.

I mean from my experience with my kids, just tailoring scripts for their abilities. So being able to tell a story in like

ten lines, give or take, know, not a lot. And but still giving them the opportunity to be up there, that brought out the confidence in them. And you saw kids that that didn't socialize very much or they came out of their shells and all of a sudden they were like, you know, bigger than life. And it even improved

Right.

their academics. So I can imagine, and that was with the script. So that now we're talking without the script. Now you're part of the creative process. Wow. Holy

Yeah.

cow.

Adrian, what was that like for you from the beginning? Your growth process in learning about how Artstream worked? Well, you had the previous knowledge with Pegasus, but they were a little bit more repertoire, you said, Haley. So ArtStream's much more original, or is it similar? Yeah.

I think so. Yeah.

Anyway, what's your process been like from the beginning and to to now? What kind of changes have you experienced for yourself?

when you entered Artstream.

When I entered Artstream I was kind of like nervous and shy. Of course, who isn't? I try something new with other people. Like yourself. but then I warmed up.

Yeah.

I started talking to other people.

I started out in 7th grade and then I transferred into 7th grade to Gavisburg. And what's interesting is that some of them, even though they were in the company,

They have this like communicating Rockville

They see each other outside of the company as well.

And I actually attended some of those events, so I got to know them and given many years different places.

I have real friendships.

My creative and artistic ideas came to life with other people's creative and artistic choices too and

It's a very interesting relationship with them

Mm-hmm.

And I love the place. I can do memorize lines and now it's like I can just not the line right here and there in the production. In the actual play.

Can I

ask so your confidence must have jumped tremendously through this process.

Well, of course sometimes you fall. Under the cracks. Now and then.

I mean, who wouldn't be? You're always going to fall. But when you have those kind of actors and those kind of directors and everybody, there are no cracks

Yeah. It's a support system, right, that builds you up when you fall Yes. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

I think

something that's also

Really cool about ArtStream, really cool about this community is that we are really part of a community of peer organizations where the overlap of our population that we serve is so strong. And I see that as an asset, as a benefit to our organization and to our folks. So, there have been multiple occasions where I'm heading into a meeting with someone who works at a peer organization and another organization in the region.

That serves the IDD population. And I am perusing their website and I see 10 familiar faces because they're Artstream actors. That is one of my favorite things about this community, there are so many layers to how people not only know each other, but how their families are engaged with each other. They share care partners, they share support

Thank

staff, they share housing sometimes.

times they are hanging out like I said on you know Friday nights together they are roommates they're married we have a couple of married couples who have come out of out of Art Stream yeah

Do you really? That's so great.

and so I'll meet with an organization that might be newer to me and they'll say

Thank

yeah your actor so and so works at our front desk or you know your actor

volunteers with us or you know, so

Thank you.

it's it's really

I think that there are so many benefits to where Artstream is. geographically, we were founded in Montgomery County, we operate in Montgomery County, in Washington, DC proper, and then also in Fairfax and Arlington County in Virginia. but the yeah.

So you can kinda connect the DMV community, right?

Yeah.

Yeah,

we really do and

so the benefit is that there are great

Thank

disability services in this region and we

in

can all be you know support organizations to each other and learn from each other. and then

we also, DC is the place to be for theater. I mean our teaching artists are doing incredible things on their own in the field and so we end up connecting back

To

not just other disability organizations but also a lot of theaters in the region, and that's really cool. Yeah. Yeah.

That's amazing.

Yeah, having those connections, right? All kind of informing each other. Because this is something

Absolutely.

that I'm sure there's other companies in the country that are doing these things. do you know of other companies

Yeah,

there are a few other companies that are

Doing what we do, I think that no two companies are doing things exactly the same way. our work at Artstream is really inspired by Sally Bailey, who's an expert in disability theater and the author of Barrier Free Theater. And I know that we are not the only folks who are inspired by barrier-free theater and that work.

We want to highlight the talents of actors with IDDs. It's not about putting one actor with an IDD into a group of neurotypical actors and calling ourselves a diverse theater company. We are really working from a curricular place of building theater work for.

and with actors with IDDs. And I do think that we are one of the only groups really doing that.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

to me that's needs to be remedied.

I will say

I just attended the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability Conference hosted by the VSA Kennedy Center Disability Program, and I met a lot of folks who are starting to do this work. Maybe they have been doing

disability theater in another way before that maybe didn't have the holistic capacity that we have, the holistic programming that we have, in terms of involvement from start to finish, and of our actors. and then a lot of people who are doing similar work

in maybe visual arts spaces and don't have, I mean, I think the performing arts is always like the ugly stepsister of the of the art world in general, but certainly in terms of pay. but I I think a lot of people think that there's not a space for

IDD community in

Right.

theater, in dance. In, you know, we have a group called the Artstream Players. They are a traveling choir, essentially. They do concerts. you know, there's a place for folks with IDDs in the performance space, absolutely. More so than I think maybe anywhere else, right? or or you know,

Yes.

because performance is so much about what you bring to the table, physically, spiritually.

energetically,

emotionally. so why not have it be accessible to everybody and everybody?

My gosh, it's just a great learning platform for ourselves to learn about ourselves, right? And how we relate to the other people in our in our environment,

And and I think Audrian, you can talk to this coming from your position prior to getting into theater. Did you feel like alone at times? Did you feel separate?

at times and how did this experience then change that for you? Well I kinda have an idea you kind of mentioned it already. But did you have that sense prior of not belonging? what was it like for you? And I'm sorry to point that out, but I just know that this is

Thank you.

like the way the world works and I just want to ask your experience.

your confidence level and how you related to people? How was that prior to getting into the artistic world? If

you can remember 'cause you were you were very young.

I guess everybody has their own thing, something that they are really passionate about. Some people are really into sports, so they go into sports. Some people are into acting, so they go into acting. And I'm one of those people who...

was more interested in acting so I decided to act and I saw more people with disabilities

than I did.

and about the idea of inclusion, how we have to force abilities, we have to force strengths and weaknesses.

I wouldn't say I was alone

But I didn't really have enough of...

people with common interest.

Mm. Yeah.

and then

going into acting I I built friendships

And then, like I said before, that I think

The benefits of acting gave me confidence in other areas.

as well, I said about how acting is like the UDL, the universal design for learning into advocacy. You

Hm.

learn to advocate for yourself. And acting is that.

I got to learn how to reconfirm what you have to say and convince others, being inspiring, inspire others. I did that by acting. Acting helped me with my speech, logical,

Mm-hmm.

syllable of a word, and give people time to understand you.

And like she said that.

Like in on-stream, you're connected in different places in the community and you actually build a community.

Yeah.

So I got the sense of interpersonal friendships, building a community and building the skills and acting and how acting can go into other areas.

Yeah.

That's great, man. That's a great answer. Thank you so much. I'm so happy you had that experience. I know so many people are benefiting from what you become as a man. It's it's really, really special.

I wouldn't call myself a man.

I would, Adrian.

The eternal kid, right? You never want to grow up and be with I'd say you're a man, my friend. I've

I've met a met a strong I've met a strong

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

man today, I'll tell you that much.

So I think.

You

Haley, how has the experience changed your approach to choreography and your approach to your craft?

My gosh, I didn't know coming into this role as the artistic director of this wonderful organization that my other practice as a choreographer would shift so dramatically. but I mean first of all, on sort of a

obvious, I guess, way. the way that I look at accessibility now and like what is true and complete access for everybody is so different. The way that I relate to my dancers and am able to

really pause when i'm in the creative process and give them more time to have their own experience with what we're doing together in the space it's sort of a a slowing down but a stepping up we're not slowing down to

kind of accommodate anybody. We're slowing down because I've learned that everybody has such a rich inner life and a rich world of like physical intellectual depth that

It's just critical that we serve everybody in that way and make space for everybody. I've made more space for myself since coming into this role at art stream, really moving forward with care.

And I my artistic work has always been about the body as an archive and what we inherit often from our matrilineal ancestors. I'm really interested in how

The Body Keeps the Score, which is probably a book that we are all familiar with. but it's a really important part of my work and

How could I not benefit from meeting more bodies, right? And from from being in collaborative work every day now with people with all sorts of bodies and minds. And yeah, I just think that I've increased my understanding of the world tenfold. and that makes me a better artist and it makes me a better collaborator.

Such a great answer and I really do relate to the idea of slowing everything down, And allowing the process to evolve too and inform you and how you're gonna come at it the next minute, minute after minute, right?

Yeah,

yeah. And I think, you know, this the slowing down is it's not a condescending, it's not a dumb

No.

dumbing down, it's really

When I am not with people who have had the same experiences as me or who see the world the same way as I see it, my only option is to slow down and make space for all of it so that I can learn from it. And so yeah, it's been a it's been a real gift to my to my work in the obvious ways and then in the more sort of like detailed artistic choices and and things like that. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Sure,

sure. making changes in the moment as you're experiencing something. Right. Yeah. I think

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

the slowing down is not at all, like you said, an accommodation. It's really it's a lesson that we learn about how to manage life

Yeah.

In a more paced way. So we're not

Yeah.

jumping the gun on things and we're allowing things to unfold more

naturally, you know, and allowing people the space to unfold more naturally too.

Yeah. I think yes.

I think that in the same way that I believe that every teenager should work a service job so that they know how to treat people as they as they get older.

Yeah.

I also think that everybody should be in community with folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Just the way that my world has cracked open has been just so unbelievably beneficial to every aspect of my life. and it's fun and it's special and I just love every second of it. and being with I spent a lot of time teaching children that is

one thing. but working alongside adults with really full, rich, developed lives who think differently than I think and who work differently than I work, is so cool. I Audrian is my is my peer in this creative process and that's really special.

Yeah, a thousand percent, a thousand percent. Yeah.

That's the inclusive community, That's the beauty of the whole thing.

Yeah.

without going into my personal story, I I know exactly what you're talking about. And I've always said,

Yeah.

you know, I've always encouraged people with their kids to get them involved in theater or in some artistic pursuit because it

Yeah.

opens up the world to difference. You see even even it

Absolutely.

it doesn't matter who you are, we're all different, right? We all come from different backgrounds and different perspectives.

perspectives. And so in order to be able to learn how to negotiate that in life, we learn about ourselves through others as well and the reflection, So

I think go ahead. I'm sorry, you've got to say something about that.

Yeah, no,

I'm just I'm just excited talking about it. But but I will say

Me too.

something that Artstream does that I think is really special is that we work with

you

folks with IDDs at every tier of our institution. So we have board members who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, we have staff who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, we have creative teams.

in our inclusive theater companies who also, have IDDs. It's not just that we are bringing our actors on in this sort of token capacity. It's that we are following, the disability motto of nothing about us without us. And really

you.

You know, so

baked in, it's baked into the device process and it's baked into sort of the heart of the organization.

What's interesting is that the thing about us without us is actually a slogan, a quote, that's used in one of my jobs

At one of your jobs?

What is it? What

yet the National

Anthem Congress.

Yeah.

What do you do there?

I do adult public speaking. I give the advocacy perspective on policies and advocacy. In fact, we just developed a guide on phoning.

Cool.

That's coming up very soon.

love to see you speak. Do you speak in the air in that area mostly in the D M V?

not in DMV. Here in Washington DC in Maryland.

Okay, okay. I'm down there a lot. so I'm really excited to come to one of your performances and meet you guys in person, and that's gonna

Awesome.

be very it's gonna be very soon. I actually was in Silver Spring about a month ago when I did an open mic at McGinty's. Did you?

We love McGuinty's. We just had our launch party there. We had our one of our cabaret performances there last year.

it.

wow.

It's a great bar, man. I d when you walk in, it's so small, then you go upstairs and it's a it's cavernous. It's huge. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, they're wonderful.

They are shout out to McGuinty's, a really wonderful

Yeah, shout out to McGuinty's,

accommodating space for us. Yep.

Yeah, the people were so nice to an open mic, I plan on going back.

yeah,

I thought them.

so I will definitely connect with you guys to come down there. I want to see what you do in person.

Please, yeah. Yeah.

couple things quick before we go, kept you a long time. I really appreciate just a quick rapid fire of five questions that you can both answer. do you prefer, Audrien? I'll ask you first, performance or rehearsal?

Okay, fair enough. Equal. Equal. Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Haley. Tech Week.

Tech Week. I

love Tech Week. I love the camaraderie. I love the the shared exhaustion of Tech Week. To me, that's like in between performance and rehearsal. yeah, I love, love a tech week.

Yes, yes. That's that's like the eleventh hour,

Yeah.

right? Yeah.

Yeah.

okay, dance, theater, or music?

I think it all combines in some way or another.

I love your egal

egalitarian approach to all this.

I

love working in theater so

you

much. Theater is newer to me. Dance is my lifelong love. Yep, and continues to be.

Yeah, okay, that makes sense.

Adrian, one word that describes Artstream.

Acceptance.

Okay, I love it. That's a great, great word. Halley, top it, beat it, equal.

Empowerment.

Love it. Great, great words. if you could perform anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Adrian Where?

Artstream

Artstream

an art stream.

No. At

Artstream.

Yeah.

Would you like to go anywhere in the world with Artstream and perform for other people? Where would you like to go where where would

But yeah, yeah.

you love to go perform somewhere?

Maybe the Shakespeare Theatre with them

Okay, Shakespeare Theater.

Okay, cool.

The Kennedy Center

Kennedy Center well, I hope it's still called again.

Well, yeah.

You're gonna have to perform outside right now. sadly. This would

Yeah. Yeah.

that's a whole other devastating hour we could talk about. Go ahead Haley,

Yes.

I'm sorry.

in my other practice as a choreographer, I do sort of large scale site specific work. and I grew up on the ocean and I would love to take Artstream to the beach. I would love to do a a site specific work with Artstream coastal, yeah. Yeah.

Coastal, okay.

Any coast, as long as it's coastal.

And bring everyone, like bring everyone to my parents' house, you know,

totally make sense logistically and you know, get everyone performing on the beach. Yeah. Yeah. For a found

that's fantastic. the one

audience, I like the idea of an audience that isn't there because they already know someone who's acting with a disability, but they're there because they stumble upon the work that we do and are wowed by it.

So cool. Yeah. I love. I love some. I'm learning

so many great expressions from you today. All right, last

Yeah.

one. Finish this sentence. Everyone deserves a chance to. Adrian. Everyone deserves a chance to.

Haley you go first.

Adrian told me to go first. I

I'm gonna go with Artstream's motto, everyone deserves a chance to perform their art out.

Love it. That's great.

everybody gets a chance to live their life to the fullest extent

Amen.

Amen, brother. That's fantastic.

Thank you.

You know who says that? A man, because you're an adult. You've you've grown to understand that. No boy, no boy, no boy says that. No boy says that, pal. Sorry.

I'm not that

Yeah.

So parents can believe that their child can be a performer, correct?

Absolutely.

Yes.

A performer, a

Yes.

collaborator, a writer, a character developer, a creative mind, a brainstormer, an improviser. because it's so

you

much more than just the acting. Yeah. A singer, a dancer,

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

yeah.

It's the development of the person, Yeah.

Yeah.

This has been such a joy for me to meet you both and to have this conversation. And I know we could talk for more a lot longer 'cause there's so much more to talk about. I've got

Yes.

tons more questions to even go into, but

We'll leave it here. I appreciate your time. I can't wait to come down and meet you both in person and see what

Yeah.

you do. I encourage people to come see you and I encourage other communities to try to pick up what you're doing and also start your own programs like this. Because this is this is what's gonna bring

Absolutely.

us all together, especially at a time of division where people are

putting people in different boxes and categories and stuff and separating us. This is the kind of thing that brings us all together. So thank you for all you do. Congratulations on your

Yeah.

careers and it's just been a joy. Thank you for blessing my show with your presence.

Thanks, Mark. Thank you

Thank you.

so much for having us. It has been a blast. And you know, we'll come back and keep talking about Art Stream. Could talk about it all day. Great.

Absolutely. Yeah, now we'll catch up again. I I that's what I love. I love bringing

immediately.

friends back and having you back on So we'll down the road we'll have you back and see what you're doing. Be great.

Great.

All right.

Great, thank you.

My pleasure, pal. I'm just gonna say have a great day.

Thanks, Mark. This was so fun. Adrian, this was really special to do this with you. Thank you.

Thank

you're welcome