Interview with Track Leader Andrew Nelson

From Marketing Director, Katy Beth Cassell -

Andrew Nelson will once again be leading our Theatre and the Autism Spectrum track at the Applied Theatre Conference June 28-30, 2012, in Greenville, SC! Andrew, founder of the Autism Theatre Network (autismtheatre.org), is a Positive Behavior Support Trainer with the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University where he provides Family Focused Positive Behavior Support and training to parents, teachers, and professionals on a variety of autism-related topics. He is the author of Foundation Role Plays for Autism (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010) and his work has been noted in American Theatre, The Autism File and Tathaastu: So Be It magazines. Below are a few questions that I asked him, followed by his answers. Get ready to have your interest peaked in Andrew's work!

KBC: What is your background in theatre? How did you get involved in applied theatre?

AN: I studied acting at the University of Minnesota - Duluth. I loved performing and writing, and really enjoyed learning about unique directors like Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook, Artaud, Meyerhold and others. I was always a very physical actor and loved studying actors like Ryszard Cieslak of the Polish Laboratory Theatre, actors who seemed to use acting as a tool for spiritual expression and psychological development. During acting school I read about people like J. L. Moreno who were blending theatre and psychology in a very special way. This appealed to me and I knew I wanted to do something similar with my life.

When I started working with individuals with autism, I was given the opportunity to experiment with acting techniques as a means to work on self awareness, confidence, and socialization. This changed everything for me. I instantly realized the power of applied theatre. Parasuram Ramamoorthi from Madurai, India taught me a great deal about the precepts and concepts of applied theatre and I have spent the last 5 years or so trying to develop new concepts and a network for people to share ideas (www.autismtheatre.org).

KBC: What applied theatre projects are you currently working on?

AN: I just returned from Pennsylvania where Cindy Schneider (Acting Antics), Chris Nealy (Autism Society of North Carolina), and I spent 7 days training a group from Hong Kong in autism-theatre techniques. From that experience, the three of us have started a new book project together. Also, I am working with actor, mask-maker, and friend of ATC Doug Berky on a project using a set of emotion masks he created. So far the masks have been used for teacher training and will be used with friends on the spectrum starting this fall. Doug and I met at last years "Applied Theatre and Marginalized Communities" conference sponsored by ATC.

KBC: What will you offer in your track at the conference?

AN: I am working with ATC on ideas for next summer's conference. We hope to share some of the new ideas Cindy, Chris, and I are working on. We are also talking about the idea of actually taking participants out on a field experience to put autism-theatre ideas into action in the community. I talk with people often about the 2011 conference, which was tremendously positive. We still actively participate in a Google Group started by participants during the 2011 conference (see www.autismtheatre.org). The 2012 conference will definitely build on the amazing energy generated last year. I hope to see you there! 


Be sure to check out www.appliedtheatrecenter.org to read about all of the tracks that are planned for the 2012 conference!