Chris is the co-founder of A Relaxed Company, and works with theatres to develop relaxed performances. Relaxed performances make visiting the theatre a more inclusive experience for autistic people and people with a learning disability.

His work aligns with our 2030 Goal to make public spaces more accessible for neurodivergent people, so we interviewed him for our Changemakers series.

What are relaxed theatre performances and why are they so important?

A relaxed performance is a theatre show specifically adapted for neurodivergent autistic and learning-disabled audiences. The goal is to make sure that anybody who may find a standard theatre performance overwhelming, or worry that other theatregoers will judge them, feel welcome, supported and included.

Theatre is a magical world. It's a world I'm very passionate about. The opportunity to go and see a show is so beneficial in so many ways beyond being great fun. We want to make sure that nobody is left behind from enjoying that.

Could you give some examples of what a relaxed performance could look like?

I think many people worry that a relaxed performance involves making a lot of changes to the show, which dilute the experience. Although we do make some changes to the show itself, they are as minor as possible. So, if there's a loud bang, we'll still keep the bang, but we'll reduce the volume. Or if there's very loud music we will build up to that level instead of suddenly changing. It gives people a chance to adjust.

When you're in the theatre during a relaxed performance, you can walk around, sing, dance, play on your phone, play with a toy, and go in and out of the auditorium as you need to. You can stand up, or sit in the aisles, if you like. You can do anything you need within reason to enjoy the theatre in a way that suits you.

We pay attention to small details. We leave the house lights on very slightly in the auditorium, so it’s never pitch black. We turn off hand dryers in the bathrooms because they can often be overwhelming for people. We set up little chill-out spaces outside the auditorium so that you can go and sit on a beanbag and you can colour in, or watch the show from a screen.

Another important thing we do is train and provide information on autism and neurodiversity for the cast, the crew, and front-of-house and security teams at the theatre, so they can be more understanding and supportive.

How did you get into this line of work?

I was diagnosed as autistic when I was 14. And by the time I was in sixth form, I was determined that I wanted to be a campaigner in the disability charity sector.

When I graduated from university, I interned for the National Autistic Society in their policy and campaigns team and later went to work for them full-time. I worked on a program getting customer-facing venues to commit to certain inclusivity standards. I discovered that the bit that I loved was working with theatres. We worked with theatres on relaxed performances, and generally making the spaces more autism-friendly. And I just loved the opportunity of seeing people who otherwise wouldn't be able to access that world being part of it.

Through my work with NAS, I met a freelancer called Katherine, and we formed a plan to run A Relaxed Company together. We initially launched in February 2020, but couldn’t start properly until after the COVID pandemic restrictions eased in July 2021.

What are some of the challenges of doing relaxing performances?

Different people have different needs, so we can’t please everyone. Let's say we've got a thousand people coming to a show and each individual may have different things that they find overwhelming or difficult. One person may need to be able to make as much noise as possible in the auditorium, while another may be overwhelmed by people making lots of noise around them.

We try to find the balance so as many people feel as comfortable as possible. We're not promising that it will be perfect for everyone, But we aim to minimise the time people feel overwhelmed. And if you do feel overwhelmed, you've got options and can move to a different space.

Another challenge is convincing theatres to make changes. Some theatres are amazing. They support our work and really get into it. For others, it can be really challenging. Many of them understand that it's necessary, but don't think it will bring in enough money or are worried about us changing their ‘baby’ too much.

It’s currently Pride month. Why do you think it's important to talk about autism during Pride?

I think autism and the LGBT+ movement have a lot of crossover. We know that autistic people are far more likely to self-identify as LGBT+ than neurotypical people. And we know that LGBT+ people are more likely to identify as autistic than non-LGBT+ people.

For me, coming out as gay made me feel much more comfortable with being different. And I think that made me feel much more comfortable being open about the other ways I was different and not seeing that as a negative.

We have a lot to learn from the Pride movement, which pioneered celebrating differences. The LGBT+ movement is a bit further ahead than the neurodiversity movement, certainly in this country. Even the whole concept of neurodiversity, the concept that autism is a difference and not a disorder to be solved, is a very new phenomenon among the mainstream population within the context of the history of autism.

But the progress of the Pride movement really gives me hope for how autistic and neurodivergent people might be celebrated in the future. I’m not saying everything is hunky dory. Far from it, but it gives me hope.

How can people find out where they can watch a relaxed performance?

You can go to our arelaxedcompany.com to find out about the shows we work on. Also, if you Google ‘relaxed performances’ you can often find information on theatre’s websites. The UK Theatre and the Society of London Theatre, have plenty of information on different relaxed performances.

Currently, it still feels very London-centric. Those are often the theatres that are most likely to be doing them. Our dream is that every theatre in the country will have relaxed performances of every show. We're a long way from there, but we're making progress.

Thank you Chris for agreeing to be this month's Changemaker. You can see other people's stories from our Changemaker series here.