"Loneliness has been my life's shadow. It's followed me everywhere."
- High Autistic Guy, "Loneliness and Autism"
Nearly 78% of autistic children have at least one mental health condition, with half having two or more.
14.4% of autistic people will experience depression at some point in their lives.
39.6% of autistic children experience at least one anxiety disorder
Autistic children are 28 times more likely to think about or attempt suicide.
Research into the relationship between autism and mental health is insufficient. However, there seems to be a unifying element in the incredibly diverse lived experience of people with autism: loneliness.
Whereas allistic people tend to be able to remedy their loneliness with socialization, socializing can make people with autism feel even more isolated. This is often due to the pressure to mask, a process in which people with autism hide their autistic characteristics to better assimilate into an allistic culture. The pressure to mask makes it so that people with autism regularly feel like they can never be themselves and no one truly knows them.
The National Institute of Health states that typical treatment for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes behavioral management therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, early intervention, social skills training, medication treatment, etc. While these treatments are often very beneficial, they tend to center on assimilation into an allistic society rather than addressing the issues of loneliness and isolation. Often, people with ASD are "treated" by being taught to behave how we want them to act rather than focusing on their happiness and fulfillment.
Enter How to Dance in Ohio.
How to Dance in Ohio is a new Broadway musical adapting the 2015 documentary of the same name. The story follows a social skill counseling group for young adults in Ohio. Because young adults with autism often struggle with the allistic "coming of age" timeline, Dr. Amigo (the leader of the counseling group) decides to throw a Spring Formal for his clients. The timeline pressure inspires the group members to step outside their comfort zone.
How to Dance in Ohio is the first representation of autism on a Broadway stage since Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime in 2015. The latter perpetuates a lot of autistic stereotypes—most specifically, the autistic savant archetype—so How to Dance in Ohio had the chance to bring a more humanizing light to the autistic theatrical narrative. The musical is one of the sincerest shows I've seen. At times, it was a bit saccharine for my taste. But when a show has so much heart, how could it not let it overflow? The content of the musical is very impactful, but I think what makes the show stand out is its structure.
Because the show centers on a social skills counseling group, How to Dance in Ohio experiments with a character-driven narrative that riffs on the scenarios and experiences of autistic youth rather than following an Aristotelian narrative. Rebekah Greer Melocik (book and lyrics) provides the audience with a clear framework. The group is preparing for the Spring Formal, and each member has a social goal they must accomplish before then. Whether asking someone to be your date or passing a driver's test. We don't heavily center on one objective, however. For most of the show, there is no protagonist. We don't follow even each group member as they work toward their goal formulaically.
Regarding the importance of group socializing in autistic youth, the musical abandons the typical isolation of the "unity of plot" structure. The musical explores certain milestones of socialization and the experience of autistic maturation. Through each milestone, we celebrate along with the characters as they accomplish the steps on their way to their goal because, as the show's website says, "Each small victory can feel gigantic." These moments often existed outside of the "logic" of scene work. This allowed the characters to share space as they experienced and elucidated their feelings and frustrations together.
I often talk and write about the power of ensemble storytelling as a more progressive structure that resists white supremacy. The ensemble approach to How to Dance in Ohio was the most effective method to tell this story--the story of a group whose purpose is to socialize its members and allow them to garner strength from each other. Furthermore, the structure works to inspire home and comfort in an autistic audience who probably experiences loneliness akin to the characters.
While the structural experimentation is admirable, it doesn't always satisfy the story's needs. There are numerous instances where the ensemble storytelling reads as unfocused. Because each of the seven young adults is the center of their story, the musical sometimes sacrifices context and complex characterization for the quantity of perspective. The show also highlights the experience of allistic parents with autistic children. While I believe this perspective is important, especially to an audience predominantly made of allistic viewers old enough to be parents, this added viewpoint crowds the narrative and takes space from the group. I think this fractured focus could've been remedied with a more specific illustration of the group's dynamics at the top of the show. The group meetings rarely get to run at any satisfying length, often interrupted by an aria about discomfort. If we spent more time discovering how the group members navigate social interactions with each other could've provided the context for which I was yearning.
Most disappointingly, the structure of Act II (especially the finale) starts to center two of the group numbers as the main characters—the two even have the last bow. Of course, they're the two heterosexual, white characters with more readily recognizable autistic characteristics such as info dumping. I don't entirely fault the creative team, however. Broadway is, of course, a business. I recognize the structure as an attempt to make the expansiveness of autism spectrum disorder palatable for a mainstream Broadway audience. And mainstream Broadway audiences love a white, heterosexual romance. Unfortunately, the perception of audience comfort forces the show to pedestalize the experiences of two characters over the rest of the ensemble.
Despite its missteps, How to Dance in Ohio is a heartfelt musical that champions accessibility both behind the scenes and onstage. All seven characters with autism are portrayed by actors who identify as autistic! The bar doesn't serve drinks with ice lest the sound overstimulate audience members. There are two "cool down" spaces in the mezzanine and in the lower level by the bathrooms lest audience members get overwhelmed. I hope that with its success, writers will feel encouraged to experiment with the best structure for their stories, and neurodivergence will be de-mystified for audiences, bringing in an era of neurodivergent representation onstage and behind the scenes.
How to Dance in Ohio opens on December 10th at the Belasco Theater.
You can get tickets here!
The team at How to Dance in Ohio also provides resources for autism education that you can peruse here!
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