Episode 67: Why Santa Claus IS Autistic, and making theatre more inclusive (With Oliver Hetherington-Page)

Explicit content warning

11/29/23 • 87 min

4 Listeners

PSYCHOCINEMATIC

TRANSCRIPT HERE

Happy early Christmas Psychocinemaniacs! It's been a hell of a year, but one thing that brings us joy is the work of disabled creators blazing the trail in inclusivity, such as our guest Oliver Hetherington-Page. Oliver joins us to talk about how he's working to make theatre more inclusive and what that looks like, what he wants to see in autistic depictions on screen & stage, and why musicals are inherently autistic. He tells us all about his show the No Bang Theory and his upcoming show Santa Claus is Autistic, which is Christmas themed but also relevant all year round.

To purchase tickets to Santa Claus is Autistic at the PiP theatre, in Milton, QLD (Meanjin) on the 7th, 15th and 23rd of December, click here!

CONTENT WARNING: some discussion of ableism

FOLLOW OLIVER ON ALL THE THINGS:

Follow Oliver on Instagram @atwistofoliverhp

And his show The No Bang Theory @thenobangtheory

Follow Oliver on Twitter @atwistofoliver

Follow Psychocinematic on Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok! or join our Facebook Group! Email us at [email protected]. Join our PATREON to support us and get cute benefits and bonus content! And check out our WEBSITE!

ALL PATREON FEES will be matched and sent to AUSRELIEF for their humanitarian relief in Gaza, until the end of the year. Sign up NOW or Donate Directly at our fundraiser link.

NOTE: This podcast is not designed to be therapeutic, prescriptive or constitute a formal diagnosis for any listener, nor the characters discussed. The host is not representative of all psychologists and opinions stated are her own personal opinion, based on her own learnings and training (and minimal lived experience). Host and co-hosts do not have the final say and can only comment based on their own perspectives, so please let us know if you dispute any of these opinions – we are keen for feedback!

TRANSCRIPT HERE

To purchase tickets to Santa Claus is Autistic at the PiP theatre, in Milton, QLD (Meanjin) on the 7th, 15th and 23rd of December, click here!

CONTENT WARNING: some discussion of ableism

FOLLOW OLIVER ON ALL THE THINGS:

Follow Oliver on Instagram @atwistofoliverhp

And his show The No Bang Theory @thenobangtheory

Follow Oliver on Twitter @atwistofoliver

ALL PATREON FEES will be matched and sent to AUSRELIEF for their humanitarian relief in Gaza, until the end of the year. Sign up NOW or Donate Directly at our fundraiser link.

Previous Episode

Episode 66: Disabled single mums being badass advocates! Also, Erin Brockovich (with Sarah Langston)

2 Recommendations

TRANSCRIPT HERE Today we sit down with Sarah Langston, disabled single mum, artist, and disability advocate, and learn a bucketload about the barriers facing neurodivergent parents, particularly mothers, and how Sarah supports those parents. Sarah dives deep into the child protection system and how often disability is equated with parenting risk, leading to reporting rather than supporting neurodivergent parents. And then we relate this somehow to the 2000 legal drama Erin Brockovich? WELL YES, as you'll soon discover! CONTENT WARNING: child protection, child abuse (including sexual abuse), and child removal, statistics around death, ableism. FOLLOW SARAH ON ALL THE THINGS:

TO JOIN ANPA (Australian Neurodivergent Parents Association) email Sarah with your name and contact number to [email protected]
Check out Sarah's website for her advocacy, art and writing here
Follow Sarah on instagram @srita_studio
Follow Sarah on LinkedIn here
See Sarah's art at Saatchi Art here

FOLLOW US: Follow Psychocinematic on Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok! or join our Facebook Group! Email us at [email protected]. Join our PATREON to support us and get cute benefits and bonus content! And check out our WEBSITE! ALL PATREON FEES will be matched and sent to AUSRELIEF for their humanitarian relief in Gaza, until the end of the year. Sign up NOW or Donate Directly at our fundraiser link. REFERENCES

Next Episode

Episode 68: Two Backbrace Girls, and Romy & Michele’s Highschool Reunion (with Lauren Edwards)

2 Recommendations

TRANSCRIPT HERE

Join us for the last episode of the year with the vivacious comedian and musical theatre actor Lauren Edwards. Lauren and Steph bond over their shared experience with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and being backbrace girls in highschool. We go through the limited selection of scoliosis-based media until we get to the beloved comedy film Romy and Michele's Highschool Reunion (1997). Find out what makes the film so iconic and whether its brief but infamous depiction of scoliosis was helpful or harmful!

Also if anyone needs to make a call, I've got a phone.

CONTENT DISCUSSED:

Deenie by Judie Blume (1973), Looking for Mr Goodbar (1977), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The House Bunny (2008), Kiss Me (2014).

CONTENT WARNING: some discussion of ableism and bullying, discussion of Looking for Mr Goodbar which is full of sexual assault, homophobia and sex shaming, sorry!

FOLLOW LAUREN ON ALL THE THINGS:

Follow Lauren on Instagram @livelaughlauren__

On TikTok: @livelaughlauren__

And on Twitter @laurenvedwards

ALL PATREON FEES will be matched and sent to AUSRELIEF for their humanitarian relief in Gaza, until the end of the year. Sign up NOW or Donate Directly at our fundraiser link.

REFERENCES: