"Not Just Ramps" brings awareness, compassion to community

"Not Just Ramps" is not just a play; the two-actor performance details views on disability gleaned from personal interviews. The script represents these views, verbatim.

In the opening scene, we meet an extremely headstrong veteran with tenure in the service who is trying to cope with his recent loss of independence due to paralysis.

The incomparable acting opens a window into the mind of people profoundly affected and changed by their unconventional levels of ability.

We also meet a blind woman who is reluctant to make her way to the restroom during the day because she is afraid of the attention drawn by her ambling through people to search for it.

To draw attention to the insensitivity of the masses at large, genuinely heartfelt scenes were interspersed with purely comedic information about how to interact with able, as opposed to disabled, people.

When interacting with a sighted person, for example, one must be aware of their inclination to invade personal space and that they may become easily overwhelmed by what they see. It takes a very calm and collected blind individual to determine the cause of a sighted person's fear or difficulty when facing an oncoming vehicle or an equally paralyzing sight.

"Not Just Ramps" is an entertaining, riveting and at times even maddening lesson on compassion and intuitiveness when interacting with the myriad people we encounter each day.

The play speaks volumes against ignorance and unconscious idiocy people exhibit each day. Not to be confused with schooling on "political correctness," raising awareness is much different than the stigmatized approach of attempting to appease or avoid offending anyone.

The only disappointing aspect of the performance was that it took place in the smaller theater off Corbet rather than the larger theater, though the seats were full.