‘I can change colours of objects by looking at them, hear the symphonies of household simplicities, taste the emotions in a room like sweet or bitter wine, and feel life’s every heartbeat breaking through my ribcage in glorious technicolour. Just don’t ask me to make eye contact.’
An imaginative child’s glorious fantasies – of dolphins and dragonflies, gingerbread houses and chocolate rivers – offer him an escape from hostile reality.
When reality dictates he has to conform to the ‘real world’, he has to make a choice. Should he live authentically and risk stigma, or can he continue to hide?
Based on real events from the perspective of the writer and the autistic community, JJ Green’s A-Typical Rainbow is an uplifting play about the experience of growing up neurodivergent and queer in early 2000s Britain.
It premiered at London’s Turbine Theatre in June 2022, produced by Aria Entertainment, directed by Bronagh Lagan, and starring playwright JJ Green, who is a passionate advocate for autistic artists like himself.
This edition includes the full text of the play along with contributions from the largely – and proudly – neurodivergent cast and creative team.
‘Plenty of theatrical wonders… sparky humour and magic… clear signs of a talented playwright in the making whose work bursts with imagination and whimsy’
— Guardian
‘A colourful testament to the power of imagination’
— The Stage
‘Delightful: full of colour, metaphor and lashings of humour… a rare, insightful, golden moment of theatre’
— Reviews Hub
‘Powerful, emotional and enchanting… everything about this show is magical… an incredibly raw and honest piece… Green’s writing is something else entirely, a rare talent that needs to be treasured and exalted’
— Broadway Baby
‘A hugely important piece of theatre… gives unparalleled agency to its autistic protagonist, and its message light-footedly unpicks stigmas and untruths about autism… the queer romance which blossoms in the second act is not only brilliantly written but exudes euphoria’
— WhatsOnStage
