This month we feature actor, writer and budding performance artist, Ryan J. Haddad
Haddad graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in May with a degree in Theatre and Creative Writing. With the help of Ohio Wesleyan theatre professor Ed Kahn, acclaimed performance artist Tim Miller and several other theatre professionals, Haddad developed “Hi, Are You Single?” as his senior capstone. The sold-out production earned him Ohio Wesleyan’s 2015 Excellence in Performance Award.
“Hi, Are You Single?” explores the complicated intersection of Sexuality and Disability from Haddad’s perspective as a gay man with cerebral palsy. “Society tends to desexualize people with disabilities, but I’m horny all the time,” Haddad said, “so I created a show that’s sexy and fun because I’m sexy and fun. It also raises questions about discrimination within the gay community. People make a lot of assumptions about each other, often those assumptions have the power to stop a relationship before it starts.”
Dixon Place will present “Hi, Are You Single?” on August 8 at 7pm as part of the HOT! Festival of Queer Culture. The show runs 45 minutes and takes place downstairs on the main stage. There is an elevator reserved specifically for patrons with disabilities.
professor, was subsequently selected as an American College Theater Festival regional finalist.
Ryan was a member of Williamstown Theatre Festival’s 2014 Apprentice Company, for which he received the VSA/Rosemary Kennedy Scholarship for performers with disabilities. This summer he returned to Williamstown to teach a workshop in Autobiographical Storytelling and Solo Performance.
In addition to his theatre work, Haddad has written numerous essays and directed the short documentaries “Julia” and “Lovability.”