Drizzle Boy – a new level of theatre comes to RPAC

Photo: Supplied.

Autism takes its proud place centre stage in Queensland Theatre’s production of Drizzle Boy. Winner of the 2023 Premier’s Play Award and the first Australian play to focus on autism, this radical three-hander boasts an autistic playwright, Ryan Enniss and an autistic actor, Daniel R. Nixon in the lead role.

Despite his widespread and impressive career in theatre, director Dan Evans says the experience was a steep learning curve – for everyone.

“I feel privileged to have directed this production,” says Dan. “Ryan was adamant that a neurodivergent play should have a neurodivergent actor playing the role of Drizzle Boy and I was determined that the character, navigating his way through life and relationships, should never have to explain himself; I wanted to bring the audience into his world, to experience the constant need to adapt that neurodivergent people live with.”

On top of the demands of working with the development and decisions demanded by a premiere production, Dan set himself to understand the special skills, protocols and language necessary for working with such important and sensitive issues.

“I had to expand my creative thesaurus in the best possible way – filtering the language of theatre through a lens of compassion and patience,” he says. “Autism isn’t a graduated scale, it’s a colour palette; if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. I was nervous about what was appropriate for the actors but they gave me the best advice; if you don’t know, just ask. The conversation IS the work. Ray and Daniel taught me life-changing skills; the main one is to really listen.”

His research was extensive and thorough. As well as consulting with specialist university professors, autism associations, parents, teachers and supporters and the specialist disability arts organisation, Indelibility Arts, he enlisted the skills of respected dramaturg Saffron Benner to work with him and Ryan in fine-tuning the script.

“Ryan is the fastest writer I’ve ever met; within 24 hours he’d developed a new version of the script and added 54 new scenes – it was an amazing experience!”

“Working on Drizzle Boy has taught me so much. I needed to make sure that the writer and the cast could fly – it just meant paving the runway a little differently.”

(There’s a sweet touch of satire in the play’s name…just think about it…)

Drizzle Boy will play at RPAC on Thursday, November 21. For tickets, go to rpac.com.au or phone (07) 3829 8131.