The Curtain Rises for Jana Zöll

Jana Zöll sits with red cheeks in her wheelchair in front of the stage in the rehearsal room of the drama school Akademie für Darstellende Künste adk in Ulm, Germany. The 22-year old has rehearsed a scene from “Romeo and Juliet” just now. Although she is small in stature and has osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) she can study drama. For at the adk handicapped people can study together with people who are not disabled - this is unique in Europe. Jana Zöll spoke with REHACARE.de about the school, her progress and the difficulties.

01/05/2007

Jana Zöll does all she can in the
rehearsals of the plays;
© REHACARE.de

Ms Zöll, does the handicap limit your participation at school?

Yes, because I am not as agile as the other students who are not disabled and I have to watch my bones. I can´t do fencing for example . Because of OI I don´t have much air in my lungs. Thus I can´t perform long sentences loudly. I needed two years of speech therapy to reach my current lung capacity.

Do you need an assistant at school?

My mother moved with me from the Eifel region to Ulm. Otherwise I couldn´t have gone to this school. In the morning she takes me to the adk and at noon she comes again in order to take me to the lavatory. I can´t do this on my own because the disabled restrooms are on the ground floor and I have to take the lift to get there. The problem is that the lift can only transport myself, not my wheelchair. Thus I need help.

In what way are the drama lessons appropriate for a wheelchair user?

They are hardly appropriate. I don´t think there is anything I can do without restraint. That is more or less fine by me, because I learn a lot of things nevertheless. However, on the whole I have the feeling that I profit less from all the things than the others. For we don´t have any special drama and motion exercises for wheelchair users. And unfortunately lecturers don´t have any special training for handicapped people. Soon a new lecturer is going to start, who has already worked with us in a workshop. There she knew intuitively what it means to work inclusively and has shown me alternative motions.

What do you do when you cannot do the motions?

I try to find a different way of doing it, which doesn´t always work. I make suggestions how I could convert the motion and sometimes the lecturers propose an idea. Thus for example when we were doing step dance. The lecturer told me I don´t have to participate – but I absolutely wanted to. In the end we have found a way. We have attached a wooden board to my footrest on the wheelchair. Thus I could step dance as well.

 
With teamwork the students get better and
better; © REHACARE.de

Why do you stay here despite the restrictions?

Despite all the shortcomings I have learned a lot at this school: I reflect more about myself, I am better able to assert myself or simply to keep my mouth shut. The motion exercises give me more strength. Nowadays I sometimes drive home on my own with my wheelchair. I didn´t use to do that in the past. Friends say I am more self-confident now. Furthermore my squeaky voice has deepened and I can enunciate better. I stay here because of the progress I make.

What are your strengths and weaknesses on stage?

People always say I have a gift for the comical. My favourite parts are the ones in which I can represent something serious with a smile. Nevertheless I find things difficult when it comes to improvisation and I find it hard to come out of my shell – this isn´t much help, when on stage. I would need somebody who could help me to be more outgoing.

What was your biggest challenge at school so far?

In one production we were supposed to represent clowns. However, I had a different opinion about what this should look like than the lecturer. I carried my point. When I performed as a dancing clown the spectators reacted really positively. That was a great feeling.

What about the contact with other students who are not disabled?

In my current group this really works well. There are no reservations. It used to be different, though. There were people who avoided me and who didn´t want to think about me. I was always the last one without a partner. A crucial experience was the collaboration with a student, who told me after two and a half years: “ I have finally discovered the person behind the handicap”. At drama school everybody keeps to themselves, after all. Perhaps that’s the way actors are.

 
Since three years Jana Zöll has been
learning how to play acts;
© REHACARE.de

What about the other handicapped students?

As a matter of fact I deal more with the students who are not handicapped – at the moment there are only four disabled students. At the beginning there was only Jan Dziobek, who is also a wheelchair user, and me. I used to be annoyed sometimes when were always mentioned in one breath: It was always: “Jan and Jana”.

How do the spectators react to your performances?

The best reaction was, when somebody told me that he had forgotten all about the wheelchair five minutes into the play.

Do you have a role model?

Not really. However, a person I really admire for his work and the things he has achieved is Dr. Peter Radtke. He is an actor as well and has OI. It was his idea to create this course of studies and it was he who advised me to study here in Ulm.

What kind of tip would you like to give to other handicapped people who would like to go to drama school?

One really has to have the wish to do that, otherwise it won´t work. For the conditions are not ideal. Some of those who start to study here, drop out soon. It is really stressful, both for body and soul.

What are your goals?

My goal is to go on stage, in order to create a piece of normality for people with handicaps: If others see disabled people more often on stage, they accept them more easily in everyday life. But for all that, I am not quite sure if I will work as a full-time actor in the future.

REHACARE.de

- Read more about the adk Ulm at: www.adk-ulm.de