HELPING HANDS
When the whole world wants you to be a certain way, what does it mean to get help?
Sheridan needs help to do battle with the Department for Very Differently Special Needs, so she can get help for her child. Alice needs help to find a therapist who knows anything at all about autism and gender. And Donna needs … well, no one seems to know exactly what Donna needs. She can’t tell us. Not yet.
Helping Hands was a surrealist, experimental journey through the world of help, digging into everything from the world’s most popular and most controversial autism therapy, to making battle plans to get through parties, to what autistic people really learn at school. It featured a goblin who loves the word “no”, a talk show all about the tragedy of not being autistic, and some real, goddamn, actual friendship. It was a show about what help is, and what help could be.
“…the comic tone is set by Munoz… and the laughs don't stop for the next hour and half.”
“While Helping Hands is very playful a lot of the time, it will also suddenly whack you with such an emotional punch at times, demonstrating great range. The balance between emotion and humour is playfully seamless, creating deeply engaging theatre.”
“This show is cathartic for those of us who are Neurodivergent and it’s a chance to listen, learn and understand for everyone else.”
“This is a fine example of original Australian theatre. Even better, it’s an inclusive, intersectional example of original Australian theatre. More please.””
“In this show, the A_tistic Theatre team has delivered an intelligently crafted, substantially solid, and yet entertaining, easy to absorb collection of stories from across the spectrum, which will appeal to and inform autistic and non-autistic people alike.”
HELPING HANDS WAS DEVISED BY…
Directors
Hannah Aroni
James Matthews
Jess Gonsalves
Devising Cast
Artemis Munoz
Tara Daniel
Vanessa Di Natale
Emily Griffith
Dee Matthews
Aislinn Murray
Alexander Woollatt.
VIDEOS
Trailer
Opening Scene
Photos by Alexis Desaulniers-Lea
Videos by Gideon Aroni
Poster image by Hannah Aroni and John Collopy