On December 3rd at 6pm CST Regina time as a part of UN DAY, The International Day of Persons with Disability, Listen to Dis' Community Arts Organization is pleased to present an online script reading on Natasha Urkow's autobiographical play "Seatbelt".

Written, performed, and directed by Natasha Urkow in partial fulfilment of her MFA Graduating shoe, Seatbelt brings nine actors to the stage under the guidance of Listen to Dis Community Arts founder Traci Foster. The play challenges traditional theatre conventions using film projections to integrate actors of mixed abilities into the performance. Seatbelt is a leading example how to normalize a working relationship in performance between disabled and non- disabled, typical and atypical artists.

The play is a dramatic cautionary tale written in autobiographical form from the true- life journey of a young woman who sustains a spinal cord injury from a violent car crash. Entering the world of “other”, it emphasizes the social- and psychological anxieties that the transformation creates for her and her family. The play exemplifies how the medical system treats and perceives disabled people, focusing on the communication and relationships inside the medical institution of a hospital between staff and unfortunate newcomers and exposing how one’s identity becomes reliant on medicalized labels. Seatbelt demonstrates this loss of personhood and how a young woman and her family push through the chaos to come out alive.

The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992, by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.