Her new play, Plastic Fiugurines tackles how autism impacts upon the family and especially between siblings.
“People have so many preconceived ideas about autism. I wanted to show that being on the spectrum doesn’t have to be the defining characteristic of someone’s life.”
‘Rose loves her brother Mikey. Mikey loves Rose, Bruce Willis films and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but he hates change. When their mum is diagnosed with leukaemia, their world is plunged into chaos. Rose returns home to find a very different brother to when she left. But today is his eighteenth birthday and Rose wants everything to be perfect but life with Mikey isn’t ever that simple.’
Although Ella grew up with a brother on the autistic spectrum, the play is fictional and tells the story of Rose, 25, played by Remmie Milner who returns home from University as her mother has cancer. to look after her brother Mikey, played by Jamie Samuel, who has autism.
Ella told The Telegraph, “I wanted to explore Rose’s guilt at abandoning the family but what she finds in the course of the play is she needs Mikey more than he needs her.”
Plastic Figurines is on tour until May 16. For more information please go to the Box of Tricks website boxoftrickstheatre.co.uk
Source: Sarah Chalmers on The Telegraph website: My autistic brother was told he’d never speak – now he never shuts up