A new play, written by an autistic woman, explores the world of autism through some familiar characters.
Understanding Wonderland, written by Leah McDonald and Peter Halley, will hit the stage for one night only at All Saints Parish Hall in CBS this coming Thursday.
She says audiences will be familiar with the characters, with a few notable differences.
“In this version, almost everybody that Alice meets when she’s down the rabbit hole is somewhere on the autism spectrum. So Tweedle Dee is non-verbal and he speaks with an iPad using an assisted communication device, the Cheshire cat struggles with making eye contact, the Duchess wears noise cancelling headphones, she has a hypersensitivity to loud noises. Each of them shows how autism affects everybody in a different sort of way.”
McDonald, who launched the show last year to school audiences, says the feedback she received was very positive.
“I had so many amazing comments,” McDonald told VOCM Open Line Show guest host Darrin Bent, “from students and from people at the public shows.”
“I had a few autistic people in the audience come up to me and say ‘your show helped me understand myself.’”
