JT Productions and Stockbridge Amateur Dramatic Society [SADS] 
Stockbridge Town Hall, Stockbridge
David Cradduck 
2 August 2024
Upstairs in the Grade ll listed, Italianate-styled Stockbridge Town Hall is a hidden gem: a group of eight talented local actors tackling one of the most challenging of plays about one of the least understood developmental disorders. Or rather our inept ability to accept and deal with it.
Sold out before the first night, the final dress rehearsal became an extra, fourth performance and that sold out too. Performed by JT and SADS (Stockbridge Amateur Dramatic Society) and comprising performers, many of whom are already experienced members of other local groups like Chesil Theatre, Winchester, this show has to be one of the trickiest examples of physical theatre going.
Based on Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel of the same name, the story was originally told through the eyes, ears and other overloaded senses of 15-year-old Christopher who has a form of autism which is largely accepted as being Asperger’s* – although neither the book nor the play ever tries to define it exactly or pretend to be an authority on the subject.
Rather cleverly, but perfectly naturally, Christopher has become Christine in this (approved) adaptation, played in the round with uncomfortable authenticity by Daisy Norwood, one extremely gifted actor who has taken the role and made it her own.
Her body language speaks volumes – the nervous, constant fiddling with her watch, the involuntary arm and head movements, the serious, wide eyed and bewildered expressions she commands, all perfectly match the clever, often witty dialogue of a child struggling to exist in a world where she cannot lie, is mathematically and logically attuned, yet will scream if touched, and constant bombardment of sensory overload leaves her isolated and frightened.
This is not so much about her inability to fit into society as we know it but society’s inability to understand her and make adjustment for it.
We follow her narrative, partly told by her special needs teacher Siobhan (played with great empathy by Katy Watkins) but nearly always in the first person, as she discovers her neighbour’s dog that has been killed with a garden fork and she is mistakenly taken for the culprit. She hits a police officer (only to avoid being touched) and is given a caution. She then sets out on a quest to investigate the crime and bring the real villain to justice – as her logical hero and mentor Sherlock Holmes would have done. The title, incidentally, is an observation by Holmes in one of Conan Doyle’s famous short stories.
Trouble mounts as it is revealed that Ed, Christine’s father, has lied to her about her mother’s illness and death; she is in fact alive and well, living in London having had an affair with the neighbour. Even worse, Ed confesses to killing the dog in a fit of ‘red mist’. We follow her through a series of short, interwoven scenes with many actors taking on multi-roles, as she seeks out her mother by adventurously taking a train and tube to London from her home in Swindon – a near impossible task for someone who has never been further than her school and who has always been supervised and helped.
The eight actors are rarely off the stage; quick token costume changes (a police jacket, a hi-vis vest, an official lanyard for example) and many simple props and a bewildering combination of physical movement, lighting (including strobe – beware!) and sound all combine to place us in the mind of poor Christine, who can recite primary numbers to the nth factor but doesn’t understand what an A to Z is. She understands everything and nothing. And in return she is misunderstood with alarming repetition.
The ensemble of actors is stunning, as is the performance. Tania Flewitt, Mark Frank, Craig Phelps and Vanessa Sharpe take on the multirole swapping whilst Marcus Whitfield plays the father with a touching combination of frustration, anger and love; Gina Hough is perfect as the mum as she tries to cope with the complexities of her life, balancing estrangement and Christine’s many needs.
The simplicity of the set is in complete contrast to the complexity of the dialogue and movement; the added touches of a real dog when Christine is given a puppy by her father and the amazing encore when a complicated A level maths exam is explained in minute detail whilst cleverly giving credit to the backstage crew, are truly inspiring.
Tom Humphreys’ astute direction and Hannah Ley’s amazing movement direction cleverly combine but are never overdone. The fact that neurodiversity advisors and training are involved pays testament to the subject being well researched.
Ultimately the play is not about disability or how to cope with it, but is about family, love and the ability to achieve and do well in life against all the odds.
A brave and tricky choice – and a challenge well met.
[* Editorial: “Historically, Asperger syndrome was used as a diagnostic term for some autistic people who did not also have a diagnosis of a learning disability. Broadly, it is now agreed that what was referred to as Asperger syndrome is part of the autism spectrum and there is no need for a separate term.” (Ref: National Autistic Society).
“Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world” (Ref: National Autistic Society – find out more here]
