When Vanessa Severo first set out to write a play for performers with autism, she reached out to friends and family who were neurodivergent.
“The thing that I found is they always said they feel othered,” Severo said. “And I thought, what if we flip it and their world is completely typical for them, because it is.”
Severo’s new play, “Rubik,” is the result. It’s about a group of teens with an array of developmental challenges, and it’s part of a push by Spinning Tree Theatre to create new opportunities for young artists with disabilities.
The Kansas City theater was one of many companies across the country to look for ways to bring more diverse voices to the stage after the pandemic paused performances in 2020. Now, Severo’s play attempts to show the world from their point of view.
Severo took cues from the performers’ own lives. She asked each of the young actors to come up with three specific movements for when their characters are edging towards a meltdown.
“We as an audience get to see this is the build up of too much stimulus,” she said. “Once (the main character) Tomas comes to the middle and puts on his noise-canceling headphones, we immediately go right into the world of what that feels like.”
During an April rehearsal at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, director Rusty Sneary said the goal is to foster a safe space where everyone — with or without disabilities — can create, experiment and take on new roles.
“This has been a conversation about theater for a long time,” Sneary said. “What we can do better to build an all-inclusive and safe environment where kids of all abilities, youth of all abilities, can feel comfortable to discover and learn about who they are.”
To tell the story most authentically, it was essential to include young actors with autism. They make up a majority of the cast, Sneary said.
“As actors, the first thing you do is connect with yourself. And then the second thing you do is learn how to connect with others, and that's huge,” he said. “That's what these kids are doing. They're learning and discovering how to do that through art.”
The production fits squarely within the direction set out by Spinning Tree founders Andrew Grayman-Parkhurst and Michael Grayman-Parkhurst in 2020.
"We always called it our heart project," Andrew Grayman-Parkhurst told KCUR that year. "We want joy and we want light and we want authentic experiences in our professional lives as well as personal lives. We want to be in a room with people that are open-hearted and that are grateful, because gratitude begets gratitude."
Solving the puzzle
The challenges characters face on-stage in “Rubik” — named after the popular puzzle from the 1970s — are familiar to many teenagers. The story follows Tomas, a teen with autism.
“He's also about to enter high school … his parents are having relationship problems and are separated at the time,” Sneary explained. “It's just a very dramatic, transitional period for this kid, which we can all relate to.”
The play is set at a summer camp for neurodivergent teens, with the campers performing in a talent show.
Actor Rhaelen Green, 16, plays C.C., the camp counselor. Green said he can relate to the character because, “it's who I am as a person in real life.”
“I'm supportive no matter what gender, no matter what race, no matter what religion, no matter who you are,” he said.
As the story unfolds, C.C. teaches a camper with autism strategies to help get through the day. The on-stage exchange has a personal connection for Green.
“When I feel like school is getting a little too hard. I kind of, you know, talk to myself and say, ‘Rhaelen, you got this. Keep going, keep going, don't stop,’” he said. “My grandma told me to never, ever give up. And I've taken it with me throughout all 16 years of life.”
Vanessa Severo’s “Rubik” runs from April 26 through May 5 at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, 8788 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, Kansas 66212. For more information, go to SpinningTreeTheatre.com.
