Neurodiversity in theatre

Neurodiversity is being talked about a great deal at the moment but remains poorly understood. How can we improve the experience of theatre for both neurodiverse theatre makers and audience members?

As a theatre writer and passionate theatregoer with AuDHD, I am frequently astonished by the ignorance surrounding neurodiversity. I appreciate that theatre is trying to accommodate those of us with a difference, but it's often not well targeted. 

We're not all the same, for a start.

Relaxed performances, for example, are the last thing I need! I have hyper focus in the theatre and need silence, darkness and minimal movement around me to enjoy a performance.

When making theatre, I'm not keen on either being treated as someone with a disability or a superpower. It's neither, and both, and as I said, we're all different. 

Simplistic concepts and policies do more harm than good.

The group included many with ADHD diagnoses and some without.

We had a fascinating discussion covering improvements for neurodiverse people and overlapping with many other group's topics.

Training and understanding is key, but ushers, for example, are not security guards or carers and are often poorly paid or volunteers. They can't be expected to police the theatre space to balance the needs of those who need one environment Vs those who may need the opposite. Robust policy and commitment to listening to more than just a few neurodiverse voices is key.

When making theatre, it helps if everyone is asked about their needs rather than asking those who are neurodiverse to self identify. We don't always want to do that. 

What we want to do is contribute, without barriers and without assumptions being made about us