Autistic Aladdin

So a few weeks ago I went to see the autistic screening of Aladdin on the west end which was put on by the National Autistic Society (NAS). I loved the idea of the screenings and just haven’t got round to watching it yet. So my first show for this relaxed screening was Aladdin and I have some things I would like to say. The last musical review I went through the songs but this time I am going to only talk about a few songs but mainly the review will be based on the way the musical was adapted.

The moment we walked in it was a really relaxed experience, we got our tickets from the box office and went to the shop area and bought a few programmes. The woman behind the counter was signing to my younger sister who lost her words briefly with excitement. We went and got our seats while walking past volunteers I noticed that a few were in education so they worked in one of the NAS schools which I liked. We got our interval drinks and sat in the audience and waited for it to begin. The actors came out and told us that they were actors and welcomed us. The american guy who played Genie called the National Autistic Society the National autism Society. I corrected him in my head and out loud to the audience members around me in the grand circle. The first song was amazing and the first part of act one was amazing.

Then during a very intense scene with Jafar and Iago an announcement and an alarm started to sound. Basically we had to leave really quickly and me being a very optimistic person thought it was either a false alarm or the Prince Edward Theatre was going to explode. So there were about a thousand autistic kids, adults, parents and carers in the street. I  felt that the National autistic Society volunteers and staff at the theatre did a really good job with how they kept people informed on what was going on but unfortunately some people had to leave because they were anxious. They let us back in and we enjoyed the rest of act one. So the song I need to talk about from act one is of course a friend like me. The cave is very glittery and pretty and there was a fire works display at one point which I think was toned down for the autistic viewers which I really thought was a good gesture.

The second act was nice and chilled as well. I did enjoy it and the actors were good, the staging was good, the choreography and music was good. I enjoyed it all except one thing. Hear me out on this before you start labelling me as discriminatory, I didn’t like the audience noise. I feel like some parents were telling their kids to boo when Jafar comes stage which would be good for a pantomime but not for the actual theatre. I feel that autism friendly performance should also introduce kids and adults to theatre etiquette obviously some things can’t be helped. For example I sometimes say things in the cinema and the theatre by mistake due to excitement so I can understand that outbursts are going to happen. To enjoy a theatre performance or musical you need to have a silent audience which I believed should be taught to autistic people that don’t know that. So I don’t know maybe they need to send out social stories to families before they come or encourage the families teach their family members about etiquette in the theatre.

Overall I believe that the autistic friendly theatre is a good idea and I will be going to future ones and would recommend it anyone.

Thanks for listening.