All in a Row
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| All in a Row | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Alex Oates |
| Characters | Tamora (Mother); Martin (Father); Gary (Social worker); Laurence (Autistic child) |
| Date premiered | 14 February 2019 |
| Place premiered | Southwark Playhouse |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | Autism spectrum, Family drama |
| Genre | Drama |
| Official site | |
All in a Row is a play by Alex Oates about a family with a severely autistic child. The play stars Charlie Brooks, Simon Lipkin, Michael Fox and Hugh Purves, and was produced by Paul Virides Productions at the Southwark Playhouse.[1] The play polarised critics and audiences for its depiction of low-functioning autism and its use of a puppet to portray an autistic child.[2]
All in a Row is based on Oates's ten years of experience caring for severely autistic children and adults, and won the Top Five Play Reading at the Bolton Octagon.[3] Oates revealed that they consulted with many autistic people during the two year research and development period, and recruited two autistic people to work on the play. The play portrays the situation of the parents of a profoundly autistic eleven year old boy, and the emotions they experience the night before he is taken to a residential school, as the social services experts feel he needs more support than can be given in their family home.[4]
Reception
Anna Kennedy was invited to an open rehearsal, and stated that the play employed a puppet in place of a child because it would be inappropriate to have a child actor for this kind of play. She also said "It has great potential to raise autism awareness and to show the impact of making such a HUGE decision and my opinion to be given a fair hearing". Kennedy voiced her concern that "autism may become a “toxic” subject in people’s minds and future films documentary or plays and reporters and artists etc may be afraid to go near it – and I am sure none of us want that as an autism community."[5][6]
Jane Kemp gave the play a three star review, saying that Laurence the puppet was not needed.[7] Fergus Morgan also gave the play three stars, calling the play "sensitive", but the presence of a puppet a "wrong-headed decision".[8] "The Reviews Hub" argued that it is easy to empathize with the parents, and that it would be too hard for a person to play the role of Laurence.[9] Writing for The Guardian, Miriam Gillinson gave the play four stars, saying that it is lively and truthful, and the puppet has a "human feel".[10]
Controversy
Criticisms of the play started to emerge when a video trailer for the production was released showing the autistic character, Laurence, portrayed by a puppet, with Frances Ryan, without seeing the play, criticising it by calling it a "grotesque step backwards".[11] The National Autistic Society, who initially decided to help the production by providing consultation, reacted to the controversy by releasing a statement on Twitter, saying, "while recognising some of the play’s strengths, we decided we could not support the play overall due to its portrayal of autism, particularly the use of a puppet to depict the autistic character alone.”[12] Nicky Clark, an autistic writer, claimed that although she supported the autistic puppet Julia from Sesame Street, she thought the use of Laurence as a puppet was "erasure".[13] In a statement on Twitter, the Artistic Director of Southwark Playhouse defended the casting, saying that the decision was "in the interest of child protection [because] the themes and some dialogue in the play are of an adult nature", going on to state "we understand that this has been controversial but within the aims of the project, and context of the piece, we support the decision by the writer and creative team on the show to use puppetry as a way to depict the character of Laurence."[14]
"The Mighty", a disability publication, compared and contrasted both sides of the argument. Opponents of the puppet started the hashtag #Puppetgate to express their viewpoints.[2] Former Artistic Director of the Rose Theatre Stephen Unwin commented on the production, stating that "if you want to create a play about an autistic child and his family, by all means deny the politicians and social workers their reality, even let the parents be represented by shadowy figures, but, please, for God’s sake, give us the breathing blinking eyes of a living young boy, not the corpselike greyness of this ugly puppet."[15] He went on to publicise his own play, and discuss how he decided to write out the disabled characters, saying "Indeed, when I wrote (and directed) my own play, All Our Children, about the Nazi murder of disabled young people, I decided to keep the victims offstage." Graeae Theatre Company and Hijinx Theatre both criticized the play for not casting an autistic individual instead of the puppet.[16]
Oates told the Newcastle Chronicle and the BBC that his decision to use puppetry was based on practical reasons: his admiration for puppetry and the fact that the character in the play has been made a metaphorical puppet by the system which is deciding his fate. He also stated that two members of the cast/creative team of All In a Row who are directly responsible for the portrayal of Laurence, are autistic and fully support the show, but do not wish to be 'outed' as autistic. Oates himself claimed "I wrote this play because I worked with disabled people for over 10 years and it's something that's really important to me."[17]
Charlie Brooks responded by saying that "I understand people’s concerns, but I do urge people to come and see the play first before they judge." She also claimed that having a puppet character is essential, and that Laurence, the puppet, is very playful. During rehearsals, Brooks visited the Queensmill School for autistic children in Shepherd's Bush, and talked to the pupils , their teachers and their carers. Brooks concluded by stating "This is a story that is rarely told. I just hope people will come and see it instead of sitting at home getting angry."[18]
By 14th February 2019, when the play was due to open, a petition 'This Play Dehumanises Autistic Children - Pull It Now!', featuring an image of a R&D puppet[19] and highly emotive language received over 9,000 signatures from people worldwide.[16] On 18th February 2019, a protest was held outside Southwark Playhouse to condemn use of the puppet, and the petition received over 14,000 signatures.[20]
References
- ^ "All in a Row". Southwark Playhouse Official Website. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ a b Stumbo, Ellen. "Play's Use of Puppet Instead of Human for Autistic Character Sparks Outrage". The Mighty. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "Top 5 scripts chosen out of 800 entries for theatre stage". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ "World Update". BBC Sounds (Podcast). BBC. 2019-02-11. Event occurs at 16:57. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ "'All in a Row' Review". Anna Kennedy Online. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "Anna Kennedy OBE delivers her verdict on theatre play 'All in a Row'". Essex Magazine. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Kemp, Jane. "Review: All In a Row (Southwark Playhouse)". What's On Stage. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Morgan, Fergus. "All in a Row review at Southwark Playhouse, London". The Stage. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ London, The Reviews Hub- (19 February 2019). "All in a Row – Southwark Playhouse, London". The Reviews Hub. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Gillinson, Miriam (19 February 2019). "All in a Row review – autistic child puppet drama has warmth and truth". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ "Casting a puppet as an autistic child is a grotesque step backwards". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Critics say new play that uses a puppet to portray an autistic boy 'dehumanises' those with the condition". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ Clark, Nicky (16 February 2019). "Autistic people have voices, reducing us to puppets in a play is a betrayal". Metro. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ "Statement from Chris Smyrnios, Artistic Director of Southwark Playhouse". All in a Row is Ableist. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Puppetgate". Stephen Unwin Blog. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ a b Masso, Giverny (15 February 2019). "Graeae and Hijinx criticise 'disappointing' use of puppet in autism play". The Stage. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- ^ Sharma, Sonia (2019-02-13). "Writer hits back at critics over play that uses a puppet to portray autistic boy". nechronicle. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ Allfree, Claire (19 February 2019). "See our autism play before you judge, urges actress Charlie Brooks". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ Kidd, Sian. "This guy. #progression #puppetmaking #puppetry #puppet #greyscale #charcter #carving #design". Instagram. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- ^ Masso, Giverny (19 February 2019). "Protest takes place outside Southwark Playhouse over use of puppet in autism play | News". The Stage. Retrieved 19 February 2019.