The Apothetae presented a chamber version of "The Penalty" by Clay McLeod Chapman and Robert M. Johanson at The Library Lounge at The Public Theater on December 18, 2015. You can read more about the rehearsal process in the recent blog post, There's A Blizzard Coming Our Way.

I recently sat down with Eric Graise who portrayed, Blizzard, the legless kingpin of the Lower East Side underworld in 1920's New York City. I asked Eric about his process and his work with The Apothetae.
-Gregg Mozgala, Artistic Director

1. In a phone conversation before rehearsals started, I asked if you would be comfortable going legless for the presentation, and you said you had been, "looking for an opportunity to do so." I thought this was an awesome statement. Can you talk about how you communicate/negotiate your disability with producers, directors, theater companies, etc. to date, and how this particular process working on "The Penalty" was the same or different?

The first thing I do when speaking with anyone in the early stages of the creative process is to say that I'm not afraid of anything! I'm completely open to any and all suggestions regarding my prosthetics or amputation. I think often times those who don't have disabilities tend to think of it as just that: a disability. But disabilities aren't present in the arts until we make them present. We are in the business of creation and if we spend all of our time focused on what I can't do, we miss out on the chance of creating a world in which a character like me is far from disabled.

Working on "The Penalty" was a vastly different experience. Many times I feel the need to apologize in the rehearsal process for being different, but none of that was needed here. I was able to truly explore a character without feeling the need to hide anything about myself or succumb to blocking and choreography that doesn't cater to someone like me. And Blizzard is definitely the type of character that feels no need to apologize for anything. 

2. In my experience as a disabled actor, I have found that when I am cast in non-disabled roles, I often spend a lot of energy working to hide my disability or make it invisible to the audience. I do this a lot in my daily life as well. In those rare opportunities where I actually play a disabled character, I find I can focus more on the acting and just doing my job as part of an ensemble. This could just be me. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on this phenomenon and if this process was somehow different because you were playing a legless character, etc? 

When you asked me to be apart of this, it clearly was a no-brainer for me. And honestly I found it be one of the easiest/hardest experiences I've had in theatre. It can be tough to discover the physicality of a character, especially being a predominantly musical actor. Portraying Blizzard was a comfort because he was a double leg amputee as well, but also difficult in that I've never had the experience of working without my prosthetics with a character as physically active as Blizzard. The only other times I've worked without my prosthetics were when I did "Misery" and we amputated my legs on stage and also when I've worked as a zombie on "The Walking Dead."

3. As you know, The Apothetae's mission is to produce works that explore and illuminate the "Disabled Experience." I know, unlike Blizzard, you're not a murdering whore master (at least I don't think you are), but can you talk about how this play or this process did or didn't speak to your experience as a young man with a disability?

I would say that the show itself is as much a representation of my personal experience as an amputee as much as Sweeney Todd is a representation of the experience of barbers. But that's what makes it so much fun! I think what spoke most to my experience in life was in the rehearsal process. Having the opportunity to work with many actors who go through similar hurdles was something I might never have gotten without The Apothetae. Hearing their stories and getting to know them gave me some solace in knowing that there is a community of people who also chose this profession. And a talented community at that! I would have hated to be a part of something that was merely a "crips only" invitation. But an attention to make not only meaningful art, but also make it highly entertaining as well was clearly present. I would work with you all again in a heart beat. 

The feeling is mutual, Eric. The feeling is mutual. I certainly hope an opportunity presents itself sooner rather than later. Thank you!

Eric is currently in a production of Sweeney Todd at Actor's Express in Atlanta, GA where he resides.

Matthias Buchinger (June 3, 1674 – 1740), sometimes called Matthew Buckinger in English, stood only twenty-nine inches high and was born without hands or thighs. A great curiosity in the early eighteenth century, he performed for three successive German emperors, entertained kings and was a frequent guest at noble houses. He was equally celebrated as a calligrapher and micrographer, creating inscriptions that described his physical condition as well as his artistic and personal triumphs.

An artist and performer, he demonstrated his accomplishments at many courts and became known as the "Little Man from Nuremberg." He traveled to England trying to get a court appointment with King George I; unsuccessful, he then moved to Ireland where he gave public demonstrations, in Dublin in 1720 and in Belfast in 1722.

Buchinger was also an accomplished magician, causing balls to disappear from under cups and birds to appear from nowhere. It was also said that he was unbeatable at cards and would dazzle audiences with his amazing displays of marksmanship.

In addition to conjuring, Buchinger enjoyed a great reputation as an engraver and an artist. Despite his having small, finlike appendages for hands, Buchinger had tremendous dexterity, liked to build ships in a bottle and his engravings were incredibly detailed. One such engraving, a self-portrait, was so detailed that a close examination of the curls of his hair revealed that they were in fact seven biblical psalms and the Lord's Prayer, inscribed in miniature letters. Also an accomplished musician, Buchinger's musical skills included the ability to play a half-dozen instruments including the dulcimer, hautboy, trumpet, and flute, some of which he invented himself.

Buchinger was married four times and had at least 14 children (by eight women). He is also rumored to have had children by up to 70 mistresses. Buchinger's fame was so widespread that in the 1780's the term "Buckinger's boot" existed in England as a euphemism for the vagina- because the only "limb" he had was his penis.

Buchinger died in Cork, Ireland at the age of sixty-six.

The works of Mathias Buchinger are currently on display through April 2016 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. From the MET website:

January 8–April 11, 2016

Exhibition Location: The Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery, 2nd floor, Gallery 690

Approximately 15 drawings by the 18th-century German artist Matthias Buchinger (1674–1739), who was born without hands or feet, are presented in Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay, at the Metropolitan Museum through April 11, 2016. Despite his physical limitations, Buchinger was celebrated in his own time as a draftsman and calligrapher as well as a magician and musician, and poetic broadsides were written in Europe and Britain about his many talents and achievements. Known as “the Little Man of Nuremberg” because he was only 29 inches tall, Buchinger lived a nomadic existence and boasted a clientele that included noblemen, kings, and emperors, along with members of the public who visited him at inns and fairs, from Leipzig to Paris and London to Belfast.

A remarkable Buchinger drawing of a trompe-l’oeil calendar from the Metropolitan Museum’s collection is displayed alongside drawings, prints, and related ephemera from the collection of Ricky Jay, the celebrated illusionist, actor, and author. Framing Buchinger’s stupendous works, which were composed largely through calligraphy and micrography (a traditionally Jewish art form dating to the 9th century in which minute lines of text are used to shape patterns or forms), are works from the Metropolitan Museum’s collection that place Buchinger in the context of works on paper from the late Middle Ages to the present day. These additional works include decorated alphabets from Renaissance to contemporary prints, 17th-century instruction books for writing and calligraphy, medieval manuscripts, and works by modern and contemporary artists for whom language is a fertile field for exploration.

Exhibition Credits and Related Programs
Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay is organized by Freyda Spira, Associate Curator, with Femke Speelberg and Jennifer Farrell, also Associate Curators, of the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Drawings and Prints.

New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman and Ricky Jay will discuss Matthias Buchinger in a “MetSpeaks” ticketed talk that will take place in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium on January 21, 2016.

Matthias Buchinger: “The Greatest German Living” written by Ricky Jay is published by Siglio and is available in the Museum’s book shop ($39.95).

Additional information about the exhibition and its accompanying programs are available on the Museum’s website, metmuseum.org, as well as on Instagram and Twitter using #MatthiasBuchinger.

Wordplay is part of the centennial celebration in 2016 of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Prints. The department’s astounding collection of prints now numbers over a million works that represent the full scope of printmaking in Europe and the Americas from approximately 1400 to 2015, ranging from the earliest known European woodcuts of the 15th century to Rembrandt and Goya’s experimental etchings, Pablo Picasso’s linocuts, Mexican broadsides, and Kara Walker’s offset lithographs. Brilliantly mixing the exceptional with the everyday, the Museum’s collection is the most comprehensive in the United States and rivals the eminent and much older collections at the British Museum, London, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, and the Albertina in Vienna. #MetOnPaper100