By Kerry Stewart Lengel
Neurodivergent characters are becoming more visible in pop culture, whether they are officially “on the spectrum” or just coded that way, like Young Sheldon or Geek Girl.
To name or not to name, that is the question. Or at least it’s one of the questions raised in a smart new play premiering at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland (artistsrep.org).
“Sapience is a brand-new play by Diana Burbano, and it features a primatologist who is trying to teach a young orangutan named Wookie how to speak English,” explains director Melory Mirashrafi, who works at ART as artistic associate. “Things get a little complicated in the lab. Her boss is her ex, and her cousin, who also works in the lab, brings her young son to work, and he develops a surprising friendship with Wookie.”
Mirashrafi continues, “One of the aspects of the show (has) to do with neurodiversity and disability in all of its shades, visible and invisible. We wanted to make sure that we cast that role authentically, and so we’ve been working with an organization called PHAME, to both cast that role but also to make sure that this play is rooted in the community that it’s talking about.”
The PHAME Academy in Portland (phamepdx.org) is a nonprofit organization that offers fine and performing arts education to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“I wanted characters who actors on the autism spectrum could play,” says Burbano (dianaburbano.com), a California playwright whose plays Ghosts of Bogotá and Fabulous Monsters have been produced around the country.
“There are characters in there that are specifically on the autism spectrum, and that’s who they are. And if the actors have that, they can bring that to the actual character,” Burbano says. “People who are neurodiverse communicate in a different way. You have to listen in a different way to understand what is being said.”
Clearly, neurodiverse voices have been well represented throughout the development process.
“Something we’ve seen a lot at productions recently is doing a sensory-friendly production. I had questions about that,” Mirashrafi says. “How do you decide what is friendly? And so I was looking at other options and came across this organization called KultureCity. They’re wonderful. They work with a lot of orgs across the country, performing arts organizations and otherwise. They famously did the Coldplay tour.”
KultureCity (kulturecity.org), a nonprofit based in Alabama, helps to accommodate sensory sensitivities, which are common for people on the autism spectrum.
“It’s called a sensory bag,” Mirashrafi explains. “It includes things like noise-cancelling headphones, weighted blankets for your lap, fidget toys, strobe-reduction sunglasses — all the good stuff. And so those can be checked out for free by anyone who needs them at concessions.”
Burbano started out as an actor and used to joke that she’d done all the Latina roles musical theater had to offer — or both of them, rather. That was before Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights and Hamilton, of course.
“Representation — it sounds like such a highfalutin thing, but it’s literally like, there’s just not enough roles,” says Burbano, who immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia as a child. “I think people just want to see their stories onstage. They want to see themselves onstage.”
Mirashrafi adds, “I think it’s a good conversation to be having, especially right now as there’s a lot of fear around identifying certain ways, and how one might be persecuted for identifying a certain way. And that moment is intersecting with this moment that so many people feel empowered and free to claim their identity and stand in it powerfully. And I feel that political moment in this play so clearly.”
“It does feel more dangerous now,” Burbano says. “It feels more exposed. Just the fact that both race and gender have been called out as topics that for example the NEA can’t fund, that’s new. It’s blatant, it’s out there, and it feels dangerous.
“It feels dangerous to be an immigrant. I keep wondering if my citizenship papers are going to get revoked. On the other hand, I’m angry, and all I have is my pen, and that’s what I’m going to use. I mean, if a little play about a sparkly shark can freak them out so much that they get rid of the entire board of directors at the Kennedy Center, well hell, why not?”
Performances of Sapience continue through March 23. More information is available at artistsrep.org.
- KBOO