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KATIE CUMMINGS IS AN INCLUDER.
She remembers, during Pink Umbrella Theater Company’s first in-person performance, when a 6-year-old with Down syndrome in the audience suddenly yelled, “Me!” The little girl was pointing at the stage and then at herself upon realizing two actors – Jack Allen and Kathryn Burish – also had Down syndrome.
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“She saw herself on that stage. That moment was the most powerful moment I’ve ever watched in my life,” recalls Cummings, who left First Stage in 2018 so she could launch Pink Umbrella. Cummings says Pink Umbrella is one of only six theater companies in the U.S. that focuses on hiring paid performers with disabilities.
“Theater is big enough for everybody. Everyone is a storyteller.”
Today – in addition to coordinating three original plays per year through Pink Umbrella and leading workshops for hundreds of area students – Cummings endeavors to make all performances in Milwaukee more inclusive, for both performers and audiences. Working alongside Chris Reibel, one of Pink Umbrella’s participants-turned-staff members, Cummings consults for many of Milwaukee’s other performing arts companies to ensure shows are “sensory-friendly.”
How do they do that? “If an actor has made a choice to make a ‘YEE-HAW!’ … that’s very jarring,” Cummings offers as an example. “But if we can teach the actor to use a bell curve to start low and then hit the intensity and then come out of it? We’re still keeping the intent of director-actor choices, but we’re making sure someone with sensory sensitivity isn’t jarred or scared.
“Since Pink has been in the community, there has been an increase in sensory-sensitive performances,” she says, including at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Rep, Skylight Music Theatre and Milwaukee Ballet. “There is an inclusivity movement in the theater community at large, and I’m happy to be part of it.”
How can we create more unity in Milwaukee?
“I think there is power in art. There is magic that can happen when you create together. Any one of us is capable of telling a story. … Sharing our stories with one another will absolutely change this community. And I think it’s important to make sure those stories are told authentically.”
