Autism Friendly Show – Autism and Sea premieres at The Brindley & Theatre Porto
Writer of the trilogy Autism at Sea, Amy le Dain, actor Dave Humphreys & freelance stage manager, Jordan Barnes chatted to presenter, Mandy about how & why they turned Amy’s books into a stage play.
Dave and Amy enjoying telling Mandy all about Amy’s books & stage play - Autism and Sea
The play is about three autistic characters. Amy plays Astrid the Starfish, Dave plays Finn the Turtle, whilst Dean Raymond who was unable to join us, plays Ollie the Octopus.
Amy, who has autism herself and Dave explained how excited they are to be able to portray the characters on stage at both The Brindley Theatre, Runcorn in October and at Theatre Porto, Ellesmere Port in April this year (the performance mentioned in the audio on 4th March is cancelled until October, see The Brindley Theatre website for further details soon). Tickets are available on both theatre websites, respectively.
Amy’s books are now a play - ‘Autism & Sea - Live on Stage’
Dave told Mandy “Before coming into this process I’ve worked a lot with actors with disabilities over at High Jinx theatres in North Wales. But this experience, especially playing Finn the Turtle has actually made me realise there is more to autism than I realise. Learning about things like Echolalia and the Stimming that goes on for people with autism.
It's been really, really interesting, so from that personal point of view it’s been really enlightening process so far, it’s very exciting the potential of this play, very very exciting”.
He added “What Amy has done so well with three characters, is that we are not just stuck with one character we might normally see on stage with autism, we’ve got a range of characters, so audiences can maybe connect with different ones in different ways”.
Mandy asks Amy and Dave when and where the play is to be shown
The theatres will be adapted specially to help those who suffer with autism, or even if you don’t. Quiet areas will be provided in the foyer at Theatre Porto for example. Cushions and an area at the front will be provided for those children who struggle to sit for prolonged periods or are easily distracted - similar to a sensory room atmosphere. Best of all, every show will be a relaxed, autism friendly performance.
The cast & production will be supported by Just Entertainment Ltd
The cast, who are rehearsing and the crew, are working in association with production company, Just Entertainment Ltd who are helping to produce this to stage. Liz Sharp is the director and autism specialist. You can listen to the audio from last week’s show below…
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