Play explores autism

[Geordie]

FOREST Forge's new production The Boy At The Edge Of The Room opens this week. The play explores the world of a boy on the autistic spectrum and has been described as a gothic style fairytale.

Director Kirstie Davis said: ?It is a fairytale for adults which has been inspired by a Victorian story by Lucy Clifford entitled Wooden Tony.

?Using puppetry, animation and live music we will bring this extraordinary story to life that explores a young boy who cannot deal with the world as he sees it and which leads to a shocking and haunting ending.?


Writer Richard Conlon added: ?In May 2002 I read an article which opened my eyes to the Wooden Tony story and its wider implications. The gothic tale, thought to be the first known literary exploration of autism, inverts and predates the Pinocchio story and has been under my skin ever since.?

The play has been informed by and developed with young people on the autistic spectrum and their parents, with advice from Hampshire Autistic Society.

An audio and visual exhibition offering the opportunity to experience an artistic expression of what it feels like to be autistic will accompany the production, and the run coincides with World Autism Awareness Day on April 2.

* The UK tour of The Boy at the Edge of the Room runs until 20 April. For more information visit forestforge.co.uk.

Play explores autism (From Salisbury Journal)

 

[Jacki Cucinotta]

This sounds like an awesome play!

 

[Geordie]

Even I'd like to watch this play, too!