Play is an insult to disabled people

I attended a performance of Max and Mary at Theatre Calgary. The advertised theme was that a 10-year-old girl in Australia and a grown man in New York strike up a writing friendship. He has Asperger’s syndrome. I expected the play to be well done, with sensitive treatment of autism. It wasn’t.

The character suffering from Asperger’s was portrayed as a sweet but simple, overweight man and when the doctor who treated him comically discovered his disability — the singing and dancing reached a new, loud level as the doctor declared that “Aspies” is the nickname for people with this disability.

I left at the intermission, disgusted with the insult this play represents to all disabled people.

Kitty Raymond, Calgary