Taking your first theatre trip?
Five things I’ve learned as both a parent & industry insider that I think will help you.
Future articles incoming from parents of young people with Sensory needs / Autism - which I don’t have lived experience of parenting. Sign up to the newsletter and check back soon!
1) Mindset
Those first few shows you do with your young people are as much about your confidence as theirs. Find a venue close to you, know what facilities they have there (use my guide!) and make sure you arrive a little early. That way you have a short trip and arrive calmly, with plenty of time to get used to the theatre surroundings before the show and do a toilet trip.
Front of house staff (sometimes called ushers, box office staff, or volunteers) know pretty much everything and make the world go round.
They are very much there for any questions or anxieties you might have, so chat to them if you need anything.
When the show starts, the doors close and suddenly the lights change. It can feel like you can’t get out! But you always, always can. The ushers are there to help. It’s totally fine to get your bag and leave for a few mins, or halfway through if you need to.
The first few shows might be like that. I used to curse the loss of a ticket price if we left ‘early’ but it was all about building up resilience to longer shows and responding to what my little soul needed at the time. It turns out 20 mins was more then enough that first time, and we went and ran around on the beach instead.
If baby cries, baby cries. Audience members who are there for an early years / children’s show should fully expect crying, shouting, laughter, feeding, and moments of delight in equal measure, and so do the companies on the stage. They more than likely made this work with this in mind.
And a reminder, breastfeeding in public places is your legal right - theatres fall under this law.
So – you do you, make the sounds you make, do what you need to do, leave when you like and go easy on yourself.
2) Time
I really recommend finding a show with a running time of around 40 mins for the first few show.
They don’t usually have intervals, so it’s long enough to follow a beautiful story, then leave.
Start small and build up. A 1 hour 40 min show with an interval could prove tough as a first trip. Many early-years shows run at 11am and 2pm, so think about what time of day works best for you with naps / energy.
3) Seating (or not!)
My favourite early-years shows don’t have seats. They have mats on the floor so you can cuddle your person as they watch and wriggle around. This is sometimes called ‘unreserved seating’.
I used to seek those ones out for the first few shows we did. This kind of info will usually be listed on the venue website, but you can always phone the venue to check.
If you are booking a venue with a seating plan, book as early as you can for the most choice and really look at the plan and where the doors are. I like to choose tickets at the end of an isle for wriggling room, or for easy access if we choose to breakout into the foyer for a bit. I personally like the Sherling Studio at Poole Lighthouse for its soft benches and 130 capacity.
And a note on capacity: choosing a smaller capacity theatre, or a big theatre with shows specifically in a smaller space (like the Sherling Studio at Lighthouse) could be a good move.
For example, you could go to Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, which has 2,300 seats. That’s going to feel BIG to a small person. MAST Mayflower Studios, just down the road, has 449 seats in its main theatre, or 119 in it’s smaller studio. If your young person might be daunted by large spaces (and theatres can feel quite cavernous) these smaller spaces can be much more manageable.
4) Comfort
Have plenty of snacks and drinks to hand. Venue staff will tell you if you really can’t have them inside for some reason, but I’ve never been stopped. My little soul likes to snack the whole way through as a comfort - as well as make loud, wildly inaccurate guesses as to what the set is made from.
We also take a favourite soft toy, who sits on the seat with us and watches the show. Make sure your young people are wearing clothes they feel really comfortable in - sitting for 55 minutes in a stiff outfit won’t feel great.
I’m also including the things here that specifically make your young person comfortable: ear defenders, fidget toys etc. Pack em! Comfort might also look like choosing a show with a story or characters your young person already knows.
5) You don’t always need a venue
Outdoor arts are amazing for many reasons. The shows are often free and unticketed, which means less pressure to commit if you wake up and your young people are just not feeling it that day, and no funds lost if you walk away after 10 minutes.
And of course, these shows mostly happen outdoors. The kids can’t climb the walls if there ain’t none!
They will be free to move around, flit between shows, sit on the grass etc. They may also happen in spaces they know that are already associated with a sense of play and safety, like parks.
Check out my Venue Access Info page - in particular, Bournemouth Arts By The Sea Festival (usually October) and Inside Out Dorset (usually September) Outdoor Arts UK do a great monthly round-up.
Links to explore next…