My 23 year old son Ollie has been coming to Flute Theatre for over ten years and we were delighted to be invited to take part in the creative process of a new production of King Lear.

He attended 7 sessions including the final performance, taking time out during his penultimate year in the education system. Ollie is barely verbal, unable to hold a conversation or express emotion. He regards Kelly, the company of actors, the autistic participants and their families as his friends. Throughout each session he expressed himself energetically and enthusiastically. The joy on his face and reaction as he manages eventually to speak single words is akin to a footballer scoring the winning goal. He takes everything in, and much of the acting and dialogue is remembered coming out, weeks or even years later, only once perfected. 

The final creative performance was watched by over 80 family, friends and professionals and I reflected that, within a 2 hour performance, the whole spectrum of autism had been showcased in a way that an audience of any background could understand. All this whilst creating fun and joy for this most isolated group of adults and their families. 

I know that this has been her labour of love over the course of my son's lifetime. The company of professional actors are all committed and very skilled under her direction. It truly deserves to be more widely recognised, championed and resourced. We are looking forward to a further week of performance in late August and will travel wherever necessary. I can guarantee that Ollie will build on his performance.

Dr Jo Thompson

King Lear has taken the Flute experience to a completely new level. In part, that was to do with the much deeper process of co-creation that Kelly and the actors were able to undertake, working closely with autistic young people throughout. This not only enriched the way in which the work communicated, it also served to empower people whose creativity is rarely accessed, even though it is manifestly part of them and is all the more valuable because it comes from a specific and overlooked perspective. Perhaps even more importantly, it was to do with the way in which the intersection between this unique process and a great tragic text took the autistic young people into spaces of profound emotion and searing social critique. This work was not imposed upon them, but lived by them through their encounters with the material.

The autistic young participants, the actors and the audience (largely drawn from the autistic people’s families) became united in a different form of articulacy; one in which Lear’s injunction to “speak” is countered by Cordelia’s eloquently silent “nothing”, in which madness and fooling became the only sane responses to a world forged from absurd social conditions, in which the injunction to “change places” exposed the structural (rather than medical) basis of autistic exclusion, in which the compassion of a new awakening came to forge new human bonds through eye contact, touch, song and naming. It is some of the most important artistic work in the world today.

Michael Walling, Father of Hari and Amba

I would like to say thank you and your team very much for all your efforts through the three weeks. Of course Natalie would never miss a day. She loves it so much. It has made a significant difference in her life. She is so happy, cheerful and content.

Not only that but using more English words and better memory. She is telling everyone about her wonderful experience and her friends from the Flute. Natalie is looking forward to August 24th, and see you all again.

Salwa Ramadan

Taking part in the online broadcast of Flute's King Lear for people with autism awakens deep feelings of great art in the close format. So much warmth from the heart. For us in Sweden, Flute sends hope through these recognizable patterns of movements and rhythms, making all in the room alive. We so much enjoyed the full-fledged way the actors take on such a task, and use their profession with a sublime attitude towards both Shakespeare and each participant. It is as if they are constantly saying with their eyes, hearts and bodies: "Whatever happens, you are part of this, you are important and we love playing with you!" We are a small theater company across the sea in Gothenburg and have followed Kelly for several years now - and are learning the method - this gives us hope that it is worth it, the work that gives so much in return. We have experienced just that during these years, and it seems that you can trust the method no matter what people you meet around the world. 

Kristina / Big Wind Theatre Company Gothenburg Sweden