Inclusive theatre-making: participation, empowerment and well-being

The article discusses the natural move away from traditional, barrier-centred notions of accessibility to media and live events towards more inclusive paradigms and practices with the people, not the barriers, at their core. After defining the notion of inclusive theatre-making, it introduces the concept of well-being as well as the tools and scales that can be used to measure it in relation to participation in inclusive theatrical practices. In order to promote advances in the study of people’s reactions to, and appreciation of, inclusive strategies and activities in the field of media accessibility, the notion of well-being is here tested and explained through the results of an experiment carried out in Italy in 2021. The ultimate aim is to stimulate researchers to move beyond the evaluation of immediate, or short-term effects of access and inclusion, towards a comprehension of the long-term effects on their lives.