WHO WE ARE

Ingrid Masterton has lived a very liminal life - seemingly always living betwixt and between; though oft times a situation of her own making, more often than not, circumstances have simply demanded that she learn to live in this state of flux. From her introverted childhood to her acquisition of what should have been a fatal adolescent cancer, she learned to embrace her liminality by continually reinventing herself with whatever she had available at the moment.

Ingrid's liminality in both her personal and professional lives, has been especially evident across her experiences of health, illness, disability and death such that she has a fairly unique perspective on the world of healthcare. She's played roles as patient, practitioner, educator, researcher, parent, child, caretaker - not uncommonly, simultaneously.

By mid-life, Ingrid had completed her coursework for a PhD in Disability Studies, but her health precluded completion of dissertation work. Many advised Ingrid to write a memoir as her life was replete with moments of admiration and inspiration. Feeling that the world did not need more inspiration porn, but did need to see the absurdity of how we all consider and discuss, or don't,  health, illness, disability and death and the systems we build around these human experiences, Ingrid instead garnered training at The Second City Training Center. Her learning saw her create and perform, across a myriad of venues, a successful, satirical, autobiographical one-person show:

                            "I AM A ZEBRA: A Curiously Entertaining Story of Illness"

   (click here to see what ZEBRAS have to do with all this)

Creating the show powerfully showed Ingrid that in retelling her stories in new ways, she could find far more coherence and meaning about her life in the absurd world of healthcare than the reality of her recollections could ever reveal. The experience demanded that she, as storyteller take ownership of her own understandings and actions AND respect the understandings of the other characters in her stories. Ingrid also came to understand that - even in her own stories - she is not always the protagonist, and that she must recognize the character that she plays in the stories of others. Most importantly, it also became clear that she, or her fellow characters, not uncommonly because each felt too vulnerable or believed they were the only relevant character in the story, created obstacles to the collective success of their encounters. 

Ingrid believes that  improvisational theater and all the activities required to create it can be harnessed to support all the stakeholders in healthcare to openly and collaboratively explore the uncomfortable truths and meanings each of us hold about our understandings of health, illness, disability and death. Once more genuinely revealed and related to each other, we can more fruitfully collaborate to reinvent our healthcare systems, systems that should exist to help us all navigate these challenging aspects of our human condition. 

IAMAZEBRA is the latest iteration of Ingrid in the world which looks like...learning workshops, presentations, theater performances, improv socials and a developing video podcast. For IAMAZEBRA, Ingrid acts as curriculum developer, instructor, facilitator, writer, actor, producer and logistics and communications coordinator. 

CV available as required.

Deana Herrman's experiences as a therapist and parent made her question everything she thought she understood about disability: meanings, systems of care, advocacy and how healthcare providers should work with people with disabilities. Deana completed her PhD in Disability Studies examining how physical therapists learn about the concept of disability, health equity for people with disabilities and how best to collaborate with disabled folks to inform physical therapy education. 

Deana's instructional duties revolve around communication skills, professional issues, inter-professional collaboration and disability. Her research activities center around disability studies, health disparities, underrepresented populations and advocacy.

Deana met Ingrid as she was in the middle of course work. She was immediately intrigued by Ingrid’s perspective and grateful for Ingrid’s openness about her experiences and the opportunities she created to continue the discussion about learning experiences in medicine and healthcare. 

Deana is excited about the creativity that stems from bringing performance art, especially improvisational theater, to education and the potential impact on provider/patient relationships, interdisciplinary collaboration and shifting how the healthcare systems work from the inside.  Her hope is that Ingrid and Jessica’s big ideas create a different and better way for us – all stakeholders – to think about and behave, within the world’s of medicine and healthcare….she is excited to be a part of a potentially profound paradigm shift. 

For IAMAZEBRA, Deana acts as curriculum development consultant, idea generator and liaison with the academic and advocacy communities. 

CV available as required.