running man theatre co.

therapeutic theatre studies

OCA & Running Man Theatre

In 2016, I started attending OCA: A Special Place for Special Needs. In the years since I have helped to create an inclusive theatre program for adults and children on the autism spectrum and am the Music Director and Marketing Manager of the Running Man Theatre Company. My roles at OCA and Running Man have included but are not limited to being a teaching artist, director, composer, playwright, mentor, and friend.

A main tenant of our theatre philosophy is to cater to all kinds of people, to accept them and better understand their worlds. Theatre cultivates a trusting and safe space, where there are no wrong answers, only experimentation and the pursuit of different choices. This foundation is what creates adaptability, improvisation, and willingness to take risks… Theatre, in particular, offers a unique milieu in which complex social interactions can be broken down into more discrete components and then rehearsed in multiple iterations with no wrong answers

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opportunity

For autistic and disabled actors, opportunities for this kind of self-discovery are extremely scarce- especially in the adult population. Running Man provides opportunities to actors of all abilities and works to set up each individual for success on and off-stage.

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creativity

Our own being is always at the center of every character you play, and so by treating these characters as a means of demonstrating skills such as social competence, empathy, understanding, and the like, you are teaching the actor to implement those skills into their daily lives.

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ability

Theatre exercises break down social situations into steps that can be followed, while at the same time creating a positive environment for creativity and the possibility of making mistakes. Theatre creates safe environments for self-expression, something for which there are few opportunities, no matter what a person’s ability is.