(Cover Photo, Michael Maag with fellow artists, Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson)
On December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities calls the world to reflect on the lived experience of 16% of the global population. For award-winning lighting and projection designer Michael Maag, the day is both personal and deeply connected to the work he does in theatre. As a paraplegic designer working at the intersection of art, technology, and access, Maag brings a perspective shaped not only by decades of professional experience but also by the transformative shift that followed the accident that disabled him in 2003.
In this conversation, Maag speaks about the evolution of his artistic practice, the realities of accessibility backstage, the need for inclusive design from the start, and the powerful opportunities that arise when disability is recognized as an essential creative lens, not a limitation.
A Day of Recognition—and a Call to Think Differently
For Maag, global observances like the International Day of Persons with Disabilities are critical moments for reframing how society thinks about disability.
“Most people who aren’t disabled don’t think about disability until it shows up in their own life or someone they love,” he says. “Days like this help us move past that discomfort. Disability isn’t about mortality—it’s just that your life changes a little bit.”
He sees recognition days as an opportunity to normalize disability, shift public perception, and invite people to imagine access as something that benefits everyone.
Building a Career—Then Rebuilding a Life
Maag was already 20 years into his career when he became disabled at age 38, following an accident while training for a bicycle race. As an active, athletic person, his identity had long been tied to movement, martial arts, stunt work, hands-on teaching, and the physicality of lighting.
“I was very kinesthetic,” he recalls. “I taught by feel. Even focusing a light involved climbing, showing, demonstrating.”
Suddenly, much of that was no longer possible. But Maag was working at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF),a progressive organization willing to learn alongside him. “They were interested, willing, and ignorant,” he says with a laugh. “Ignorant not in a negative way, just without knowledge. They didn’t know what needed to be done, and I was learning too.”
His supervisors recognized that while he could no longer climb pipes or walk the catwalks, his creative mind, instincts, and artistry were unchanged. Together they crafted new working methods, shifting toward a communication-driven approach that ultimately strengthened his design practice.
“I had to learn to be clearer, more patient, more efficient,” he says. “It became a good learning journey. In the end, it made me a better communicator and a better designer.”
The State of Accessibility in American Theatres
From an audience perspective, Maag believes the U.S. has made progress. Backstage, however, structural limitations remain enormous.
Most American theatres, OSF included, were built before the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) existed. Retrofitting older buildings is expensive, restrictive, and often limited by the physical footprint of the structure.
OSF has invested heavily in improvements: elevators, automatic doors, ramps, and redesigned plazas with wayfinding for blind visitors. But some barriers simply can’t be removed without major reconstruction. “I’m not getting to the grid in certain theatres,” Maag acknowledges. “It’s just not going to happen without a major rebuild.”
Newer theatres are better, but many architects still don’t truly understand what accessibility means for backstage workers. At industry conferences, Maag often finds himself educating design teams on what disabled technicians or designers can do, especially when assumptions about ability are wrong.
“People ask, ‘What could you do in the grid?’ So I show them. It’s not about imagining a generic disabled person—it’s recognizing the wide variability of bodies and abilities.”
Mentorship and the Next Generation
Because he built his career pre-disability, Maag acknowledges that he entered this new chapter with certain privileges: established networks, reputation, and industry trust. Younger disabled designers or technicians entering theatre today face different challenges.
He considers mentorship essential.
Through OSF’s FAIR Program,which supports emerging artists and artisans from underrepresented backgrounds, Maag has mentored dozens of lighting interns and assistants, many of whom are disabled. He also HAS participated in USITT’s Gateway Program, helping young designers imagine a career that includes them.
“I’ve had the opportunity to reach down into the crab pot and pull people out,” he says. “To bring them into rehearsal rooms, onto catwalks, into conversations. To show them how I navigate spaces, and help them navigate too.”
Why Disabled Artists Strengthen Productions
For producers worried about budgets or accommodations, Maag has a clear message:
“People in the disability community are already experts at making it work with less. We are innovators by necessity. We’re constantly inventing solutions.”
Hiring disabled creatives isn’t an act of charity, it’s an investment in resourcefulness, efficiency, and expanded artistic perspective.
“What can someone who doesn’t think like you bring to a production?” Maag asks. “That applies to race, background, disability, everything. It expands your interpretation of the work.”
Access, he argues, often makes the entire venue run better. Simple infrastructure such as ramps or elevators help not only wheelchair users, but everyone: wardrobe crews moving racks, technicians loading road cases, parents with strollers, travelers with luggage.
“Accessibility speeds up efficiency and prevents injuries,” he says. “You avoid recruiting people into the disability community because they blew out their back hauling wardrobe up stairs.”
Designing With a Disability Perspective
Maag views disability not as a loss but a powerful expansion of his artistic voice.
“I’m always down here in the wheelchair,” he says. “Often in the front row or the corner. Or way in the back of the balcony. So I think a lot about how different parts of the audience see the work.”
This perspective directly influences his projection and lighting design. He subtly adjusts angles, balances, and visual storytelling to create an experience that resonates not only from perfect sightlines but from the positions disabled patrons often occupy.
“It helps the audience feel things in a different way,” he says. “I’m a better artist because of my disability.”
Designing the Future: AI, Technology, and Inclusive Systems
Maag believes technology presents extraordinary opportunities for access for both onstage and backstage:
Real-time captioning and automatic translation
Integrated communication systems for Deaf technicians
Wireless tactile cueing devices for Deaf performers
Gesture-based systems for calling or triggering cues
New approaches to intercom and booth design
“These aren’t far-off ideas,” he says. “They’re almost here. We should be integrating them into theatre systems now, so everyone can participate fully.”
He urges theatres not to fear new technology, but to embrace it as a fundamental tool for inclusion.
“Stagecraft is about stealing tools from everywhere and making them work for us,” he says. “AI is no different.”
The Heart of the Message: Bring Disabled People Into the Planning
When asked what single change he wants to see in the industry, Maag doesn’t hesitate:
“Include disabled people from the very beginning. Don’t retrofit us in. If you’re building or renovating a theatre, bring in mobility-disabled artists, Deaf artists, blind artists, everyone. Ask us what we need before you build the space.”
Inclusion, he emphasizes, is not only ethical, it is creatively and economically transformative.
“I feel lucky,” he says. “Lucky to still work, lucky to mentor others, lucky to be a better artist because of my disability. And I want the industry to open those doors for others—to recognize what we bring, and how much better theatre becomes when we’re fully part of it.”
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This post was last modified on December 1, 2025 10:25 pm