Invisible refuses to ghettoise disability

Jaspreet Kaur Sekhon, who has Down syndrome, plays a proud hotel guest

- Clement Yong

Receiving the script for Invisible, 46-year-old Jaspreet Kaur Sekhon found herself assigned the character of a proud, uppity hotel guest, with obnoxious lines such as, “What’s the meaning of this?” and “I’m waiting.”

Nothing made her happier. As a person with Down syndrome, it was her chance to play against type and unleash her inner diva. Better that she is doing so with mainstream actors having to bend to her will.

Invisible is a play set in a hotel where a young disabled woman is starting a new job as a hotel cleaner. It puts Sekhon alongside non-disabled actors Dalifah Shahril, Deonn Yang and Periyachi Roshini.

Playwright Haresh Sharma has refused the obvious choice of pigeonholing Sekhon in the role of the disabled hotel staff, though the point is also the spectrum of invisible disabilities all the characters suffer from. Less conspicuous ones like dyslexia and diabetes subvert what disability looks like.

The 75-minute commission for the Singapore Fringe Festival plays at the Esplanade Theatre Studio from Jan 21 to 25, a collaboration between theatre company The Necessary Stage (TNS) and nonprofit ART:DIS. TNS organises the festival that runs from Jan 15 to 25 and features three other shows.