In 2025, the Righting Relations Anti-Ableism Change Lab embarked on a bold and heart-centered journey: a multi-month theatre workshop series shaped by disability justice, rooted in sociodrama, and guided by a deep commitment to decolonization and radical social transformation across Turtle Island. What began as a pitch from a member soon unfolded into a powerful creative space where participants could share stories, challenge ableism, and reclaim performance as a site of collective empowerment.

Now that the workshops have wrapped up, and as we prepare to release a final report and community toolkit, this is a moment to pause, reflect, and celebrate what took place.

The workshop series was designed with a clear objective: to create a fully accessible and inclusive online theatre experience where individuals with lived experience of disability could explore artistic expression while confronting ableism in the arts. Over the course of five group sessions and additional individual ‘one-on-ones’ with session leaders Joleen Ballendine and Ágnes Blaskó, the ten women and non-binary participants immersed themselves in storytelling, improvisation, and performance, culminating in a live/hybrid showcase in November.

This work grew from the understanding that people living with disabilities continue to face structural barriers, including physical inaccessibility, lack of accommodations, and deeply ingrained societal biases. Our Change Lab positioned disability leadership and lived experience at the center, drawing on disability activism, the social model of disability, and the transformative practices of groups like Sins Invalid. By the end, the sessions had evolved into a vibrant community of shared creativity, mutual learning, and collective advocacy.

Grounded in Theory, Driven by Lived Experience

The workshops were shaped by two guiding frameworks: Sociodrama and Disability Justice and Anti-Ableism Activism.

Inspired by the methodologies of both psychodrama and sociodrama as means to navigate personal and inter-personal conflicts, space was created to reenact real-life scenarios involving ableism, discrimination, and access barriers. This approach allowed participants to explore personal and collective experiences in ways that were expressive, supportive, and deeply validating.

Drawing from a lineage of disability justice organizers and the heart-centered approach of Righting Relations, the workshops emphasized:

Intersectionality
Accessibility
Self-determination
Collective care

These principles didn’t just guide the conversations; they shaped the structure, pacing, facilitation, and very spirit of the series.

Inside the Workshops: What We Created Together

Session 1: Sociodramatic Exploration of Lived Experiences

Participants co-created accessibility norms, then stepped into real and fabricated scenes drawn from their everyday encounters with ableism. Through adaptive improvisation, they developed new ways of expressing and understanding the emotional and political weight of these experiences. Open dialogue anchored the session, allowing the group to process what emerged.

Session 2: Rewriting the Narrative

In this session, everyone reimagined stories of disability not through deficit, but through empowerment. Participants explored storytelling as advocacy, learned the fundamentals of monologue writing, and began crafting their own pieces. After this session, personalized guidance in the form of ‘one-on-ones’ with Joleen and Ágnes began to be scheduled outside of regular meeting times, helping each participant connect with their voice in a more private and directed manner.

Sessions 3, 4, & 5: Continuing to Grow

These sessions were all about refinement. Participants shaped and reshaped their monologues, supporting one another through feedback and reflection. Confidence grew not just through performance techniques, but through the strengthening of community ties.

Session 6: Final Showcase & Collective Reflection

In November, the workshop series culminated in a powerful live/hybrid performance where participants shared their monologues and creative pieces with a wider audience in-person at Edmonton’s Rapid Fire Theatre, as well as streamed online. The monologue showcase was followed by group reflection, discussions about audience impact, and the gathering of insights that will inform a forthcoming report and toolkit.

The Righting Relations Anti-Ableism Change Lab theatre workshop series demonstrated what becomes possible when disabled storytellers are given not just a seat at the table, but the creative tools and equitable space to shape the narrative entirely. By merging writing and theatre with advocacy and disability justice, the Change Lab fostered a space where art became both expression and resistance, and where participants could rehearse not only performances, but liberation.

We acknowledge the financial support of Women and Gender Equality Canada in making this project a reality.

Exploring Creativity, Community, and Justice: Righting Relations Anti-Ableism Change Lab Theatre Workshops