IN GOOD COMPANY: Profile of Phamaly Theatre Company A MATTER OF ACCOMMODATION BY ELISABETH MONAGHAN FOR 35 YEARS, Phamaly Theatre Company has produced plays and shows with casts that are made up entirely of performers with disabilities, establishing a reputation for being among Denver’s best live theater organizations. In May of 2021, Ben Ranaan, who also is disabled, worked in the disabled theater sector for 15 years before relocating from Cincinatti to become Phamaly’s artistic director. According to Phamaly’s website, Raanan’s artistic focus is centralized around creating artistically rigorous theater with, for, and about the disabled community. Before joining Phamaly, Ranaan worked with theater companies, where the focus was on specific disabilities. Rather than being a theater for performers who have Down Syndrome, or who are deaf or mobility challenged, Phamaly works with actors who have all kinds of disabilities. For Ranaan, that means balancing everyone in the company’s individual needs. Recognizing that each actor has specific needs for how they will move about on stage, Ranaan tries to be as reactive as possible instead of proactive. “I like to see what people need in any given moment and react to what I’m seeing, rather than kind of a certified idea of ‘here’s how I’m going to accommodate this person, and this person, and this person,’ because things change on a daily basis here, and I’m going JENNA BAINBRIDGE PERFORMS IN EVITA. COURTESY OF PHAMALY THEATRE COMPANY to react to what I see in front of me, I’m going to live in the moment, I’m going to create right here and now, versus some big elaborate plan I had that isn’t going to work. “I have a toolbox of techniques or accommodation tactics that I’ve used in the past, but for me, it makes no real sense to actually approach disability and approach accommodation until I know who the actors are, and I’ve gotten a chance to sit down with them and see where their heart lies,” he said. While Phamaly employs only actors with disabilities, Ranaan wants people to understand that the company strives to create the best production possible — not just the best production for a disability company. “Coming to a Phamaly show is the same as seeing a show at Vintage Theatre, Aurora Fox Theatre, Town Hall, or Miners Alley. When you come to see a Phamaly show, the emphasis is on the professionalism. The emphasis is on work that has brought us to the levels where we’re presenting the same quality of work that you would see in any company in Denver,” said Ranaan. According to Ranaan, his approach to accommodating an actor’s specific needs means he talks to them to understand how they want to interact with the space that is the stage, and how or if the actor wants to present their disability as part of their role. For example, rather than deciding whether a character’s wheelchair should be hidden by building it into a costume, or rather than hide the fact that one of the actors is blind, Ranaan looks at each situation and works with the actor to find out what they want and how he can best accommodate them. “There was a story about a blind actor in our company. People would comment that they didn’t know she was blind until they saw her after the show, and while that’s fantastic, I think that’s not always what some of our actors want,” said Ranaan. “So we look at each message of inclusivity on its own singular scale. If we have two blind actors, where one wants to use a cane, and one wants to feel out where they are URINETOWN ENSEMBLE. COURTESY OF PHAMALY THEATRE COMPANY REGAN LINTON (L) AND JENNA BAINBRIDGE (R) PERFORM IN “INTO THE WOODS.” COURTESY OF PHAMALY THEATRE COMPANY 6 DENVER VOICE July 2024
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