April is autism awareness month. We have scripts by writers who are raising awareness of autism through their writing and the theatre. Here are some scripts to explore.

World of Wonder
Book and Lyrics by Tonya Hays. Music and Lyrics by Genesis Be.
Short Musical, Drama, TYA, Contemporary
CAST: 3M, 4F, 12M or F
World of Wonder is a hip-hop musical that opens with the perfect family: two loving, successful parents with a daughter and a son. Their fairy-tale family is destroyed when their 2-year-old son, Noah, "disappears." He stops talking, won't look people in the eyes and doesn't wish to be touched. Jenny, Noah's older sister, takes us through the story as the family faces the diagnosis of autism and the challenges it brings. Jenny journeys into Noah's world and finds the courage and strength to understand and support his struggles. The family comes to understand that autism is not a death of dreams but another way to live and that Noah is different but not less.
Framed loosely by Alice in Wonderland, World of Wonder takes us on a musical journey and invites all to join the adventure and take the first step in understanding autism.
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Orange
Aditi Brennan Kapil
Full Length Play, Dramatic Comedy, Contemporary
CAST: 1M, 2F
An adventure through Orange County told from the point of view of a young woman on the autism spectrum.
"Orange offers audiences moments of laughter, glimpses of tenderness, and a good deal of food for thought about ability and perception."
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The Other Room
Ariadne Blayde
Short Play, Comedy, Drama, Present Day
CAST: 5M, 1F
Austin is a brilliant teenage astronomer who happens to have autism. Lily is his popular classmate who happens to have an interest in astronomy. When a chance encounter after school leads to a growing connection between them, Austin's imagination, intelligence, and constant struggles to connect with the world are revealed in the form of four characters representing his inner life.
By turns funny and heartbreaking, The Other Room is a compelling and sensitive glimpse into a unique and misunderstood mind.

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FREE READ (via Playscripts)

 
Theory of Mind
Ken LaZebnik
Full Length Play, Drama, Contemporary
CAST: 1M, 1F, 1M or F
Autism makes social interactions challenging. Imagine, then, a high-school senior on the autism spectrum who desperately wants a girlfriend -- and misreads just about every social cue she gives him. Theory of Mind is Bill's journey as he takes Hilo out on a date, with hilarious, touching and profound insights about identity, what it means to be on the autism spectrum and love.
Bill is not defined by his diagnosis; he is a rich character, brilliant, innocent, vulnerable, with an emotional arc that leads him to question why God gave him a unique set of challenges. The climax of the play is a moving affirmation of the value of difference.
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Mockingbird
Adapted by Julie Jensen From the National Book Award-winning novel by Kathryn Erskine
Full Length Play, Drama, Contemporary
3M, 3F, 3M or F
CAST: Caitlin is an 11-year-old girl on the autism spectrum. Not all things make sense to her. Emotions are mysterious and voices are almost always too loud. Suddenly, she must grapple with the unthinkable: a mass shooting has taken her brother away. He was the one person who helped her cope. Now she is alone with her grieving father and a cacophony of children at school. She struggles to understand empathy, what facial expressions mean and why a drawing might have more than one color.
We see the world from Caitlin's point of view. We struggle as she does. We also take comfort in the times when she finds a friends, draws a multicolored mockingbird and can finally cry for her brother.
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Burning Bridges
Amy Shindler
Full Length Play, Drama, Contemporary
CAST: 1M, 4F
"When she was little she was obsessed with me - if I didn't play with her or sit next to her she screamed her head off. Then one day she replaced me with a Captain crunch cereal box."
When Sarah, a young woman with Asperger's Syndrome, comes to visit her sister and brother-in-law, what starts as a fortnight of family holiday spirals into a nightmare of accusation and intrigue.
A love triangle with a dangerous twist, this moving and funny play explores the everyday dilemmas of a young woman living with autism: what to eat, what to watch on TV, and how to seduce your sister's husband with a piece of cake.
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