Relaxed performance at Montgomery Theater
Recent matinees offer sensory-friendly experiences for audience
There are some changes, such as pointing out ahead of time that a bell is about to ring or keeping the house lights on during the show, in the relaxed performance shows at Montgomery Theater.
For the most part, though, the attendees at the sensory-friendly performance, which is designed to meet the needs of those with sensory, learning and communication differences, see and hear the same thing as at other performances of the show.
“We want them to have the full experience of what we do,” said Allegra Ketchum, Montgomery’s managing director.
The biggest difference is in the environment that’s created for the audience members, she said.
“It’s what we’re calling a noshush zone,” Ketchum said.
“If your child has to make sounds throughout or move about, nobody’s going to look at you askance,” she said. “There’s no shaming in this environment.”
Others may not be able to sit through the entire show, she said.
“If you have to leave in the middle, that’s completely acceptable,” Ketchum said. “What we’re trying to offer people is just the opportunity to try it out.”
There is also a quiet space
where audience members can go if they’re temporarily overwhelmed, then return to the show when they’re ready, she said.
Relaxed shows were designed for people on the autism spectrum, but there are also a lot of others who find the relaxed performance beneficial, she said.
A relaxed performance of “Sisters of Swing: The Story of the Andrews Sisters” will be performed at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the theater at 124 Main St. in Souderton.
“Relaxed performances provide a safe environment where people can be who they are, where the audience experience accommodates to the needs of an individual’s sensory sensitivities, where parents can relax and enjoy the theater experience with their child without the stress and worry that their child’s responses will not be accepted and welcomed,” Roger Ideishi, program director and associate professor for Temple University’s College of Public Health/Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, wrote in an email.
Ideishi, who is one of the consultants for a six-theater consortium, including Montgomery Theater, working on building theater experiences for persons with autism, said families that have a member with autism frequently report being judged or scrutinized if their child
does not conform to the unwritten social customs for public places.
“Families often get looks of disapproval, and at times public members are bold enough to make comments implying poor parenting or a misbehaved child, not recognizing the stresses and challenges the family may have in providing community opportunities for their child with autism,” Ideishi wrote.
As a result, he said, families often have divided family experiences, where one parent and part of the family go to the public activity while the other parent stays home with the other child.
“Children with autism often perceive and experience the world differently than other people. A person with autism may have sensory sensitivities where they may perceive and experience senses with greater or lesser intensity resulting in a response that may be different than other people. These responses often do not follow the unwritten social etiquette of theater,” Ideishi wrote.
At relaxed performances, audience members are allowed to talk or make noises in response to the theater experience, to use communication devices such as iPads or to move around the theater, he said.
Attendees are also given a pre-performance packet with information about what to expect at the show and the logistics of going to it, Ketchum and Ideishi said.
Montgomery Theater’s first relaxed performance was last year’s “Teen Sherlock,” which was part of the family friendly Montgomery Theater, Too series with student actors, Ketchum said. This year’s “The Beanstalk,” which is also part of the Montgomery Theater, Too series, will have a relaxed performance during one of its performances, she said.
“Sisters of Swing” will be the first main stage show with professional actors at the theater to include a relaxed performance, she said.
The relaxed performance was scheduled for an additional matinee show because matinees better serve the attending families, Ketchum said.
“We don’t normally have Saturday matinees,” she said.
There are some shows that could be more difficult to make into a relaxed performance, she said, but this one works well.
“‘Sisters of Swing’ I think lends itself nicely to it,” Ketchum said.
The consortium of theaters for the relaxed performances is led by People’s Light in Malvern and, along with Montgomery Theater, includes Theatre Horizons in Norristown, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in Center Valley, Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, Del., and McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J., Ideishi said.
Tickets for the relaxed performance of “Sisters of Swing” at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 22, are $20 each. Tickets or information are available at montgomerytheater.org or by calling 215-723-9984.