PLAYING AT THE MEAT MARKET STABLES  |   NOVEMBER 8 - 19 2017

Presented as part of Poppy Seed Theatre Festival 2017

Citizen Theatre and A_tistic joined forces to create a new theatrical work, Alexithymia, which aimed to simulate an autistic experience of the world for audiences.

Alexithymia is a condition that noticeably affects 85% of people diagnosed on the autism spectrum and is defined as an inability to name or describe emotions.

RED, BLUE & YELLOW

Developed and presented by a neuro-diverse cast and creative team, Alexithymia was a speculative fiction, featuring an interdependent and delicate mix of sensory stimuli, sound design and stylised performances.

Multiple studies have shown that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder excel at pattern recognition and visual tasks. The design of Alexithymia weaves complex patterns and visual cues by using only the primary colours: red, blue and yellow.  

COSTUME & SET DESIGN

Alexithymia was presented as three short works – Social_function.exe, The Curious Case of You, and Nirvana Syndrome each of which included three characters: Red, Blue & Yellow. Each character wore a white base layer (chosen to stand out against the black-box theatre) with corresponding red, blue or yellow blazer, belt and socks.

Alexithymia was performed in the round on a stage divided into three sections: red, blue and yellow. In each section was a chair of the corresponding colour. The audience was divided into three teams: red, blue and yellow during the second act of Alexithymia: The Curious Case of You. If you looked closely, all of the props that the performers used during the show were of the corrensponding colour.

The movement and behaviour of the characters was also dictated by the colours: red, blue and yellow.

Each character would naturally gravitate towards their corresponding colour section of the stage and would move freely in this space. When the characters moved into the two other areas of the stage their emotions were likely hightened and they would behave differently. This was to demonstrate and simulate the autistic experience for neuro-typical audiences. 

The Alexithymia season included a sensory friendly/relaxed performance.