Moxie Theatre hosts world premiere of Diana Burbano's 'Sapience'

Speaker 1: (00:00)

Moxi theater is staging the world, premier of Diana bub Bono's play sapience next month. It focuses on neurodiversity and offers a sensory friendly production to explore what that means. K P S arts reporter. Beth Amando speaks with director, actor, Vanessa Doron, and inclusion specialist. Samantha gin,

Speaker 2: (00:23)

Vanessa, you are just about to direct sapience at Moxy theater. And before we talk specifically about the play remind people who Moxy theater is, and kind of what their mission statement is.

Speaker 3: (00:34)

Sure. So Moi theater is a theater that is run by women and we put on plays that are created by women. Pretty much Moxy theater's mission is to create more diverse and honest images of women in our culture by producing just works by female playwrights and giving special attentions to the place that defy female stereotypes. And

Speaker 2: (00:56)

Tell us a little bit about this play sapience and what it's about, uh,

Speaker 3: (01:00)

What is, what is in the out about it's such an amazing play. It's about communication. It's about how we strive to, uh, feel heard, to feel seen how we socialize with each other. It's about understanding and compassion. There is so much in this play, the

Speaker 2: (01:22)

Samantha, you are the inclusion specialist on this show. And one of the issues that it raises is this idea of neurodiversity. So what does that mean? Neurodiversity

Speaker 4: (01:32)

Means anyone with a neurological difference who thinks differently in their brain and who is not defined as neurotypical. So that could be someone on the autism spectrum or someone who's dyslexic. Those are some examples of neurodiversity. And this play focuses on two actors who are on the autism spectrum. This

Speaker 2: (01:55)

Play says that it's going to invite audiences to experience theater in a new way. So Vanessa, how are you going to package that for the audience?

Speaker 3: (02:04)

Well, we are making this play sensory sensitive, which means anyone can come and see it. So we're incorporating things like if there's a, a sound that we think it's too jarring, there will be a cue light that will prompt someone to put on headphones. If they need to, or, or walk out of the theater, they need to, we're creating a safe space for, uh, people to walk out of the theater and take a breather. If they need one, we've dialed back the, the lighting to make sure that it's, there's no like stroke lights or anything. That's too flashy. We've taken down a notch on our voices, so we're not screaming on stage. So there's so much, um, there's a lot of learning experiences in the lobby. When you first walk in, audience members are allowed to leave the theater if they need some alone time. So just, just be mindful of the, the needs that that need to be met in our audience members.

Speaker 2: (03:03)

And Samantha, I mentioned that you're the inclusion specialist. So what does that job entail?

Speaker 4: (03:08)

So, um, I have been working with people with disabilities for the past 20 years, and I'm also an actor and a director and a writer. So I've been blessed to have both of those, those worlds in my journey. And so for the past 10 years, I've, I've been working with actors with disabilities and putting on sensory friendly shows and doing a lot of neurodiverse programming. And so this time around at Moxi, they brought me in to make sure that the show is indeed sensory friendly and accessible to those who may avoid going to the theater because of those loud noises. And because maybe they, they need a sensory break to regulate. And so we're showing our audience members like, what would that look like? And also how can we be, how can we show compassion as audience members to those who may need to go have a break that perhaps people who are neurodiverse in the past at the theater may have not felt like, oh, I'm safe to leave the theater right now. I don't wanna be distracting or what if I make a noise right now? And so we're just really create a welcoming space. And so my job is to, to make sure that space is accessible to those and also to support some of the neurodiverse cast members to make sure they feel regulated and supported. And also to I'm finding like it's exciting to educate others, other designers, other people that are involved in the show of how would we modify our language to best support a neurodiverse actor in the process. So it's been really exciting.

Speaker 2: (04:54)

Now, part of this educational push also extends to the fact you are holding workshops after each of the plays. So what can audiences expect from that?

Speaker 4: (05:02)

Uh, a great partner in this show is the autism society. And I know that they're right now coming up with a, a list of what are those post show discussions going to look like?

Speaker 2: (05:14)

And Vanessa, this is going to be your directorial debut at Moxy. And there seem to be quite a few challenges in this play. What one thing I noticed is that it involves an orangutan and I'm curious, how is that going to play out on stage? First

Speaker 3: (05:29)

Of all, our actor is amazing in this. She's so warm and she's so open and it's, it's an amazing experience. First of all, the Orangutang I don't wanna give too much away so it, it, it's a way to show audience members communication and compassion, how needs are just sometimes just not met and how we, we, how we have to open up our minds to different types of communications. I that's, I feel that that's what woo represents in, in

Speaker 4: (06:04)

The show. Uh, the orangutan ties directly to, to how people sometimes on the spectrum communicate in different ways, but that doesn't mean that they're not communicating correctly, but in our society, we have created these norms of this is what communication looks like, and this is how you communicate. And sometimes I find working in the autism community that the, the, our society is trying to change the way someone communicates to, uh, to fit the social norm. And that's where, uh, I find that people on the spectrum can get frustrated because they're just communicating in a different way, but they're not being totally heard. So I think it, it, it's symbolic of sometimes the challenges that people in the, the autism community face when they feel like they are expressing just in a different way.

Speaker 3: (06:57)

And not only that, it also like kind of ripples out to not just people who are neurodiverse or people on the spectrum, but it also ripples on to like people who have have different language, um, people who are deaf people, you know, all sorts of, of, of ripple effects that happen from that. But yeah, and also I think it, it shows how just shifting a little bit, can help communicate, just opening your mind up to something different can help us communicate with each other.

Speaker 4: (07:27)

It illustrates how we all felt during the pandemic of like, we're not wired to be alone. We're not wired to feel isolated. And what does that do when you feel like you don't have a community when you don't feel like you're seen or heard or, or valued, or you're afraid to speak up. And so I think that the play is really special because it, it shows the importance and especially in the autism community, there's this, um, false idea that people with autism are, are people who don't wanna be social. And that's absolutely not true. They wanna be social just like any neurotypical person wants to feel accepted in a community. So we have to enter their world and figure out how to tap into their expression. Well, I wanna thank both of you very

Speaker 3: (08:12)

Much for talking about Moxie's new place. Sapience. Thank you.

Speaker 4: (08:16)

Thank you, Beth. Thanks for having us.

Speaker 1: (08:19)

That was Beth. Amando speaking with Samantha gin and Vanessa Doron. Moxi theater presents sapien, February 3rd through the 20th.