AUTISM AND THEATER

TDF, The Who's Tommy, and The Pillowman: What theater can do for people with autism and their families.
By Shoshana Greenberg (lyricist/bookwriter)

In the waning days of Autism Awareness Month, the Theatre Develoment Fund (TDF) is presenting the second autism-friendly performance as part of their Autism Theatre Initiative. This time the show is  Mary Poppins. Today, hundred of people with autism and their families will fill the New Amsterdam theater to experience for the first time what for many of us is a commonplace ritual: a live theatrical performance.


My brother has severe autism and while he loves many cast recording and movie musicals, he has never been to the theater. He would never be able to sit still and remain quiet through a show. I always wonder what would happen if he saw a live version of something he's only seen as two-dimensional images. How would he respond to it coming to life before his eyes? He lives too far away to attend the TDF performances in New York, so my hope is that their initiative expands to include tours, and perhaps regional theaters will follow suit.

Theater can be great for people with autism (as evidenced by the success of the first TDF autism-friendly performance of The Lion King and the theater programs around the country for higher-functioning children with autism), and I also believe that it is the best way to portray the complex relationship one can have with someone with autism, especially a family member.  While films like Rain Man and others can portray the literal experience, theater has the unique ability to connect the literal experience with the abstract, revealing deeper emotional truths. This hits harder and feels even more real than what I've experienced in film.

My two favorite examples of this are the musical The Who's Tommy and Martin McDonagh's play The Pillowman.

In Tommy, Tommy is "deaf, dumb, and blind," but his behaviors are more like those of autism (as the doctor says in the second act, "his eyes can see, his ears can hear, his lips speak"). Not only does the musical let us into Tommy's inner sensory life (warped sounds, fixations on his reflection, and the flashing lights and spinning objects of pinball), we also experience the frustrations of his parents. I've never seen the film version, but I don't think all these sensations and emotions-- and their expression in the music--could be fully realized on film.

The Pillowman is, to me, about the relationship between a writer and his/her mentally-disabled sibling. At the end of the play, the Pillowman gives Michal, Katurian's mentally-disabled brother, the choice of dying as a child or living a very hard, tortured life so that his brother can become a great writer. He agrees to live so that he will be able to hear his brother's wonderful stories.

Billy Crudup with Michael Stuhlbarg in The Pillowman
(Photo © Joan Marcus)

I love this part of the play because it reminds me of my relationship with my brother. My brother, along with many others with severe autism, does not have goals in life. He will not pursue a career or start a family. He won't even live independently. What then, is his purpose in life? I have often wondered, and, from The Pillowman, I believe his purpose could be to elevate the lives of those around him. Because of Michal, Katurian was a better writer. Because of my brother, I may be a better writer, but, most definitely, I am a better person.

 

SHOSHANA GREENBERG writes musicals, plays, and prose.  http://about.me/shoshanagreenberg
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Comments

[Tara]

Shoshana, first off, this is a beautiful piece.

Secondly, what does "autism-friendly" mean? Just that they're inviting a bunch of autistic kids to go? Or are they changing the show in any way to accommodate them?

[MONKEY BUSINESS by Tony Asaro (Composer/Lyricist)]

It's not just through ticket sales nor content that theatre can serve the autistic community.

Back in the Bay Area, I had a voice student who was autistic. He was 20 years old, but when he found the performing arts, he was around 12. Prior to that, he was unable to look people in the eye, and hardly ever spoke. At 12, his parents signed him up for a theatre summer camp, and it changed him forever. It taught him social skills, and how to focus. Now, he is a professional actor in the Bay Area, working all the time in plays (especially shakespeare.) He is now VERY social, and except for the fact that he openly discusses his autism, many would never know that he has it, nor how severe it was. And all because he got involved in a theatre summer camp, and not even one that was specifically aimed at arts therapy.

[Robert Burns]

Tara, here is a quote from TDF's website.

"The shows are performed in a friendly, supportive environment for an audience of families and friends with children or adults who are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or other sensitivity issues. Slight adjustments to the production included reduction of any jarring sounds or strobe lights focused into the audience. In the theatre lobby there were staffed quiet areas and an activity area for those who needed to leave their seats during the performance.

Downloadable social stories (in Word format), with pictures of the theatres and productions, were available several months in advance of the performances. These are designed to personalize the experience for each attendee with ASD. "

I think that answers both of your question. If you have more the site is: http://www.tdf.org/autism