MISSOULA — The Missoula Children's Theater is making theater accessible to everyone, one sensory friendly show at a time.
"I think the importance of a sensory friendly is because theater has to be for everybody," MCT's Artistic Director, Joseph Martinez, said.
MCT usually puts on one performance per community season that minimizes sensory overload. The reason this started is because a parent wrote a letter requesting this back in 2011.
“We had a parent whose daughter was on the spectrum and she didn't feel comfortable being out in public and they wondered if we could do a show.. And we thought, 'Yeah, why not?'” Martinez said.
That parent is Robbi Williams who wanted her daughter Molly to have a comfortable experience inside the theatre.
"Molly is a little bit intimidated by the noise and the sound the lights, so I thought that these people would do it, and they've done a great job," Williams said. "They've done it for years now."
The audience is allowed to stand up and move as needed during these types of performances. The doors are left open and the house lights remain on to accommodate the audience's comfort in the space.
"This is a night where they can just be themselves and be doing something as a family and have a good time and enjoy something," Martinez said.
A glow stick was used to signal upcoming commotion on stage to avoid startling noises and to help prevent over-stimulation from audience members.
"The glow stick is our way to indicate to the audience that something big is going to happen," the Director of Cinderella, Heather Adams said.
The stick can indicate a light change, a scene change, fog or something that might just be little out of the ordinary.
Cinderella was condensed to 90 minutes for those who cannot sit for long periods of time.
"If you have someone who's a little bit sensitive then you should bring them, and hopefully eventually they could come to the regular shows," Molly's mom Robbi Williams said.
