What does 'Shrek' have to do with autism? Cape Cod explores neurodivergence in theater.

When “Shrek, the Musical” was being reimagined by its creators to focus on celebrating “total acceptance” of people’s differences, that’s how creating the cast was accomplished, too.

Actors for the current national tour of the fairy-tale show about an ogre, donkey and princess were chosen through “blind casting” — focusing on talent, with no questions about race, gender, or medical background, says executive producer Dani Davis. The result: Six of 24 actors and musicians are neurodivergent, considered to be on the autism spectrum.

And Davis, an award-winning writer/director/choreographer who has worked with Brewster’s Cape Rep Theatre, hopes many future theatrical productions will similarly welcome differences in how people’s brains function.

“It’s been a glorious learning experience,” she said. “We now know it’s completely achievable to provide accommodations to (neurodivergent) people, and still uphold your business plan, and deliver a beautiful show.”

For "Shrek," Davis said that those accommodations started with determining the needs of each individual with autism. Some examples: determining what each performer needs to best interact with dressers and make-up people, who change at every theater, and what helps when they relocate to different hotels once or twice a week. They have weekly meetings, she said, with the team of neurodiverse people to check what's working and any changes that need to happen to make their participation successful.

Another example of neurodivergence in theater earlier this year was “How to Dance in Ohio,” a musical based on a documentary about a prom for neurodivergent young adults. It was the first Broadway show with all actors on the autism spectrum. Mother-daughter Tedi Marsh and Isabeau Miller of Mashpee were among co-producers of the show, which closed in New York but is being remounted in London.

“We’ve got that show’s neurodivergent cast, and the ‘blind casting’ in Dani’s show, and (those ideas) will meet together and the world will be different,” said Marsh, a teacher and singer.

Soon, ‘How to Dance’ will be performed by regional and community theaters, she said, and there will be enough talented neurodivergent actors in various communities to fill the stages.

Davis and Marsh were on a panel of a dozen people related to theater and other arts who spoke June 20 at the “Heroes of My Imagination” night at Chatham Orpheum Theater. The fundraiser for Cape Abilities, which coordinates jobs, housing and enrichment for differently abled people, aimed to show how much neurodivergent people can contribute to the arts, and the impact arts can have on their lives.

Organizer and photographer/author Kim Rodriques hopes the event’s messages continue to be shared to educate those who know little about neurodivergent people and so often only see that diagnosis negatively.

“There is so much positivity about it,” she said. “Once you become aware, once you acknowledge it and accept it, things can only get better.”

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind has worked internationally for a decade on that awareness-raising about autism, and the impact of the arts, by sharing how Disney-animated movies unlocked communication for his autistic son, Owen. Suskind chronicled the family’s journey in his book “Life Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism” that inspired a 2016 Oscar-nominated documentary.

In Chatham last week, Owen helped his father tell that story. So did Jonathan Freeman, who played villain Jafar in Broadway’s “Disney Aladdin” for eight years, voiced him in the original 1992 animated film.

Freeman agreed years ago to make a birthday call to Owen in Jafar’s voice. Freeman then became involved in the family’s use of Disney to help bring together neurodivergent people, so has seen firsthand the potentially life-changing power of movies, theater and artwork.

Suskind talked afterwards about the great strides forward in recognition and acceptance since Owen’s 1994 diagnosis, and singled out the neurodivergent artists who spoke at the event: Chatham book illustrator Liam Campbell, who’s seeking an art/animation career; artist Nicholas Heaney from Chatham’s Artnova Gallery; artist/teacher Nate Olin; and singer Matthew A. Newcombe.

“You’re finding more folks and artists proud to say they’re on the spectrum,” Suskind said. He added “The spectrum is a very big umbrella, and there are many folks who are significantly challenged. I hope they will start to be seen with new eyes, too.”

Miller, a Nashville songwriter who teaches at Berklee College of Music, talked of how those local artists’ dedication has inspired her own creativity. Accepting and supporting people’s differences, and allowing everyone to advocate for their various needs with compassion and empathy, she says, is an important path forward for all.

“We can learn so much from one another,” she says. “That’s the beauty of representation.”

The Suskinds, with Freeman and possibly other Disney voice actors, hope to keep the Chatham conversation going at an August “Aladdin” screening at the Orpheum. The still-being-planned event would raise money for LIFE (Living Independently Forever Inc.) housing for adults with autism/intellectual disabilities in Hyannis (where Owen lives), Mashpee and Plymouth.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: What can a neurodivergent cast do for theater? Autism in Cape Cod arts