DULUTH — A show that sold out several performances in Minneapolis last year is now playing at Zeitgeist, where
has described it as “a funny, sweet, and sometimes tear-jerking musical fable.”
“The reception has been amazing,” said Gaelynn Lea, the Duluth musician who is co-star and co-creator of “Invisible Fences.” She spoke with me by phone last week, just after completing a read-through.
“The election was very stressful,” Lea continued, “and I think it’s been really good for people to be able to focus on something really, really uplifting and and just fun.”
The production grew out of a previous collaboration between Lea and Kevin Kling, a veteran storyteller who’s been a staple of Minnesota stages for three decades.
Contributed / Bruce Silcox
“We did a number of shows together across the state, where he would tell a story and then I would play a song that fit the energy of the story,” Lea said about a Minnesota tour the two artists shared several years ago. When Kling received a grant to fund a disability-related project, they considered making their own play.
Lea, who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (also known as brittle bone disease), uses a motorized wheelchair. Kling has a congenital birth disorder as well as partial paralysis from a motorcycle accident.
“My left wing is short, and my right wing doesn’t work very well,” explains Kling, in character as the Grasshopper during the show. He and Lea, playing a platypus who can’t swim but happens to have wings, team up for a journey to the Big Apple. The show also features a narrator, played in Duluth by George Ellsworth.
Realizing that traditional fables “had really bad messaging about disability,” said Lea, she and Kling wrote a story that, as a Zeitgeist news release puts it, “is rich in the wit and wisdom inherent in disability culture.”
“We had a gentleman in the audience,” said Lea, “he’s disabled, and he said, ‘You know, sometimes you go through challenges, but you just gut it. You just embrace your life. I love it here in Duluth, and I’m just so glad to see this kind of show happening.'”
“Invisible Fences” is a highly accessible production — not just aesthetically, but literally. Each performance features both captions and American Sign Language interpretation.
Contributed / Bruce Silcox
“You don’t have to choose which night to go to based on the one night there’s an interpreter, if you’re deaf,” explained Lea. “We want to make an example of what radical accessibility could look like, and Zeitgeist has really, really gotten on board with that.”
Enjoying an international following, Lea tours widely and has become a leading advocate for accessibility in entertainment venues.
“The ADA has been around for almost 35 years, the Americans With Disabilities Act,” Lea pointed out. “The really old venues, they’re still supposed to put a plan in place. That’s part of the law is, they’re still supposed to be planning on becoming more accessible. So for spaces that haven’t done anything in 35 years, I think that that kind of apathy does have to end.”
Lea urges people to understand disability as diversity. If you truly want to send the message that “all are welcome here,” you have to support the infrastructure making that a reality for people who may arrive on wheels or require sign language interpretation.
“If we want to have a more integrated, welcoming society and we want to embrace diversity and just not be discriminatory,” she said, “you just have to find a creative solution.”
“Invisible Fences” incorporates Lea’s songs into an inspirational story, but she also recently provided the soundtrack to a play that’s a little less uplifting: William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” Lea composed an original score for a 2022 Broadway production starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.
“I really am grateful for that project. It really pushed me creatively and helped me to kind of think of recording in a new way,” said Lea. “I get to release the soundtrack in May, and that’s pretty exciting, because it took a while.”
Beyond that, Lea is anticipating a 2026 publication date for her long-awaited book, “Linger in the Sun.” It “will be a love-letter to every body,” according to the artist’s
“a warm, funny and deeply-felt memoir about disability, music, and the messy creativity of an artist’s life.”
“It’s been a big project,” said Lea. “The more intimate it gets, or the more detailed you get, you realize, whoa, this is kind of an emotional journey. So it’s been a lot of work, but it’s also been really rewarding, and I’m super excited to get it out in the world.”
Contributed / Bruce Silcox
As if that wasn’t enough to keep Lea busy, she also co-directs the Music Inclusion Ensemble at Berklee College of Music.
“Half the members have disabilities, and half of them don’t,” explained Lea. That ensemble has been performing on the East Coast, and Lea is hoping to bring the project to Minnesota.
“When you see disability culture in action and how welcoming it is to everyone, it really changes your perspective of this competitive win-or-lose thing that we feel so often in our culture,” said Lea. “Disability culture, if it’s done in the way that resonates with me, is very welcoming but still super creative.”
“Invisible Fences” is at Zeitgeist through Saturday. For information and tickets, see