How does partial-sightedness influence theatre-making? Disability and Ableism in Puppetry Influence of Visuality on the Audience

This dissertation examines ableism in puppetry through an interdisciplinary framework combining disability studies and performance studies. Focusing on visuality, embodiment, and representation, it analyses how puppetry both challenges and reproduces dominant cultural narratives of disability. Drawing on contemporary case studies—including the work of Marina Tsaplina, Emma Fisher, Corina Duyn, and Blind Summit—the research explores puppetry's capacity to reframe bodily difference through object-based performance. Informed by the author's lived experience of partial sightedness, the study treats visuality as a culturally constructed practice rather than a neutral or universal mode of perception. It considers how puppetry's hybrid bodies and mediated forms of agency enable alternative ways of understanding disability beyond medicalised or deficit-based models. The dissertation also addresses the ethical use of humour in puppetry, examining its potential to foster inclusion or reinforce ableist assumptions. Overall, the research argues that puppetry offers a critical space for reimagining disability on stage, contributing to broader discussions of access, embodiment, and ethical representation in contemporary theatre.