Abstract
John Belluso’s play Pyretown depicts a single mother’s struggle with the American healthcare system and portrays the destructive consequences of ableism existing in the neoliberal structures. Even though neoliberal ideology promises happiness, health and success through hard work and consumption, the characters in the play are victimized by highly valued autonomy, profit, and privatization. In such a system, disability is also thought to be an individual experience, yet the play shows that it is only a part of complex dynamics in daily life. On her journey to learn disability as a multifaceted experience, Lou engages in affective relationships with Harry and Rebecca whose lives are also jeopardized by the medical industrial complex. The realist portrayal of disability problematizes the job market, the healthcare and welfare system in the United States while promoting for a reform in the social, cultural, and political discourses. Within this context, this article argues that Belluso’s Pyretown exposes and critiques neoliberal ableism as it exists in American society while portraying the complexities of caregiving, motherhood, and disability.
Publisher
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cankaya University
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