At ArtsEmerson, a new show offers satire with a mission

The set for FlawBored’s sharp offering “It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure,” looked like a talk show at The Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre at the Emerson Paramount Center Thursday night. There were two chairs and a small wood table set beneath a large screen, and a rug lined with black and yellow caution tape.

When Chloe Palmer (the only sighted member of the group), Aarian Mehrabani and Samuel Brewer, the artists behind the disability-led theater company came out to start the show (at Arts Emerson through April 13), they opened by describing every item onstage, from the color of the rug, to the placement of the tape and themselves. They shared their race, hair color, height and other details and read the captions onscreen aloud. This was an introduction to how they work, Palmer explained, wanting to make the show accessible for everyone, no matter what. And they went to great lengths to do so from repeating lines, to dimming the lights for people whose vision requires it, to shouting loudly so that everyone could hear.

Described as a “satire on the monetization of identity politics,” the show follows a nondisabled influencer who pretends to be blind and receives backlash. The talent agency and marketing and public relations machine Rize, who represents this client, must turn things around. To help, their blind diversity hire Tim comes up with an idea to make blindness the next trend to clamor for. He chooses a blind influencer, Ross (portrayed by Mehrabani), to put the weight of the agency behind the ploy and begins an ambitious plan that includes products and experiences, such as a dating app with no pictures and prop canes, so that the sighted can live like the blind. There’s even a book deal in the mix.

The inspiration for the story “comes from noticing that marginalized groups often have parts of their identity absorbed by mainstream culture,” Mehrabani shared in a video. This happens with food, fashion and culture, he explained, but not with a disability because it hasn’t been made sexy yet.

As the campaign to make blindness a trend ratchets up, the stakes get higher, and of course, a terrible misstep or two threatens to derail all their hard work unless they’re able to spin that too. For an hour, the three actors delivered a scathing show as promised, but it was also funny and thought-provoking and covered much more ground than I anticipated. The narrative is particularly clever in that it makes us confront so many of life’s complexities, ableist faux pas, racism and appropriation. It also speaks to our willingness to follow social trends and how quickly virtual foes rally when someone makes a mistake to punish and cancel those in the wrong.

Another interesting point is how the show shines a light on the fear many of us face when trying to do the right thing. They use a human resources representative named Helen, portrayed by Palmer, to demonstrate that crippling fear. Helen really wants to get everything right. So, she spends a lot of time scouring the internet for best practices on how to best communicate with people of different abilities. But somehow, when she tries to share this knowledge, she mucks it up. Tim accuses of her ableism, for which she profusely apologizes as her cheeks flush.

As the story unfolds, the trio shares a lot of knowledge. They talk of the social model of disability that points out systemic and environmental barriers for and exclusion of people of different abilities. If society were inclusive, everyone could more fully participate. They also highlight examples of things that some might deem ableist, such as the Dining in the Dark phenomenon.

The acerbic show leaves audiences with much to chew on. While there was laughter, the FlawBored trio — who bravely say what others might not — aspires to push us to learn and to do better, even if we’re afraid.

FlawBored’s “It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure” runs through April 13 at The Jackie Liebergott Black Box Theatre in the Paramount Center.