In 2018, a partnership was formed when Garry Posey, executive artistic director of the Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga (ETC) reached out to Alyce Benson, clinical director of the Chattanooga Autism Center (CAC).
Posey had set out that season to produce THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, a play based on the book of the same title featuring a protagonist on the Autism spectrum and needed input. “Initially, I just wanted to know more information about what being on the spectrum meant. As it turned out, I was really uninformed. I’m not the type of director that puts a lot of specific research into productions, but the conversation I had with Benson and some of her CAC staff and other autistic individuals impacted the final product we presented,” mentions Posey.
Benson and Posey orchestrated a general audition call for autistic individuals to be considered for a number of roles in the 2018 season. This audition led to the casting of three performers in that 2018 ensemble.
“We cast an eight year old boy named Noah Phillips in HONK!, a musical about the ugly duckling story, and the experience between ETC and Noah and his family was so genuine, inspirational and memorable that we have managed to use Noah in both the 2019 and 2020 ensembles,” Posey indicated. Benson and Posey continued conversations throughout 2018 and 2019 exploring a partnership between each organization that led to the framework for The Spectrum Playhouse.
The Spectrum Playhouse draws from the resources, skills and talents of the CAC and ETC to create a new organization that combines the performing arts and therapeutic models into programs that create awareness, promote inclusive experiences, and provide opportunities for both the neuro-diverse (autistic) community and the neuro-typical (non-autistic) communities.
The strategic plan calls for an annual fundraiser, a summer camp and fully realized production combining artists both on and off the spectrum. A devised performance piece titled “SHADES OF A SPECTRUM” was to be the kickoff event for The Spectrum Playhouse in 2020, but the country-wide pandemic suspended that production one week from its scheduled opening night.
Unfazed, Benson and Posey kept in touch with plans to reinstate the production and move forward with a 2021 summer theatre intensive for student artists on the Autism Spectrum.
The half-day, week-long camp features exercises and activities geared around theatre performance and storytelling, concluding with a showcase at the end of the week for family and friends. Students are paired with mentors who will experience the camp alongside. The cost to attend the camp, which has limited enrollment, is $150.00. The students will be split based on ages (8-12 and 13-18).
For more information email Alyce Benson at benson@chattanoogaautism.org