This module investigates the representation of illness and disability in performance. It focuses primarily on contemporary performance and live art practices by artists with illnesses or disability but is contextualised by the history of disability performance, e.g. in the Victorian freak shows. You will be introduced to ways of understanding discourses of disability and illness, and the ways in which they become manifest in performance. The module enables you to discuss issues of representation, lived experience and agency as they relate to disabled and unwell bodies in performance.