Review of Theatre & Neurodiversity by Amy Skinner (Methuen Drama 2026)

Bridger M. Bartlett, PhD

AMEND Postdoctoral Research Associate

Skinner, Amy. Theatre & Neurodiversity. Methuen Drama, 2027. £9.99 pbk | £8.99 ebook (Epub & Mobi; PDF) | £14.00 audiobook

            This little book from the Bloomsbury imprint Methuen Drama’s Theatre & series can effectively serve as an introduction to neurodiversity studies for anyone, regardless of their investment in theatre. As a book specifically about the arts, meanwhile, Theatre & Neurodiversity valuably lays the groundwork for future innovation by articulating the stakes and unresolved questions surrounding the book’s topic. While considerations of Shakespeare performance and criticism at various points in the book plainly direct the reader’s attention toward the kinds of engagements with the early modern that animate AMEND, the whole book, in fact, brings into focus considerations that are just as relevant for our study of early modernity as they are for theatre-making today.

            The book’s table of contents, at once helpful and slightly visually overwhelming, lists the starting page numbers for the subsections within chapters as well as for the chapters themselves. At the chapter level, the body of the book breaks down as follows: “Introduction to the Interviews,” “Introduction,” “Neurodiversity Discussions,” “Neurodiversity and Aesthetics,” “Neurodiversity and Access,” “Neurodiverse Theatre Futures,” and “Being Neurodiversity-Affirming: Some Notes.” Additionally, a short section on suggested further reading is included before the references and index. As the first chapter’s title suggests, Theatre & Neurodiversity is informed by interviews Skinner conducted. Specifically, Skinner interviewed “forty-three neurodivergent theatre makers” (p. 1). Although much of this book’s utility is in its accessible tour through theoretical concepts that are discussed at length in scholarly publications by the neurodiversity luminaries Skinner likewise cites, the interviews invaluably help Skinner to represent the complexities inherent to neurodiversity and theatre and spotlight the ways arts practice may raise new challenges. As she writes further on, “This book chooses to incorporate and range of sources to reflect the diversity of neurodiversity research and the complex relationship between the Academy and the broader critical community of the Neurodiversity Movement” (11). Addressing both philosophical and practical questions about theatre and neurodiversity, Skinner’s book situates readers to begin contemplating their own potential answers on both fronts.

            After the brief section addressing the use of interviews, the chapters “Introduction” and “Neurodiversity Discussions” together provide a crash course in the neurodiversity movement, concepts stemming from it, and this volume’s investment in fostering its inclusive and intellectually expansive values in theatre contexts. After “propos[ing] that we are now on the verge of a ‘neurodivergent turn’” (8), Skinner stresses understandings of neurodiversity as a matter of inclusion and disability justice that can dovetail with other broadly emancipatory movements to support anticolonial, antiracist, and otherwise anti-oppressive ends. Additionally, she identifies the centering of neurodivergent subjects as agential presences (as opposed to merely treating neurodivergence as a concept) as a key way that theatre and neurodiversity (it is “a two-way relationship” (11)) can productively come together. Across these introductory chapters, numbered and bulleted lists and bolded words further enhance the accessibility of Skinner’s already-clear prose; these features may be especially helpful to students.

            The chapter “Neurodiversity and Aesthetics” in many ways feels like the heart of the book. It contemplates both “neurodivergent aesthetics” and “neurodiverse aesthetics,” particularly in relation to ways of theatrical representation and storytelling, and closes with attention to the transformative potential of neuroqueering in theatre-related contexts ranging from contemporary live performance to Shakespeare criticism. While earlier chapters had signaled that neurodivergence can be understood in terms of a commonality in atypicality or nonnormativity among diverse kinds of difference, this chapter on aesthetics reflects on how experiences within this array of differences might be represented in theatre. By “neurodivergent aesthetics,” Skinner refers to a multiplicity of ways of meaning-making for “mak[ing] the neurodivergent bodymind present within the theatrical event” (39). By “neurodiverse aesthetics,” Skinner means “an alternative model of aesthetic practice” (63) and “a subset of neurodivergent aesthetics” that “focus on the presence of the neurodivergent bodymind, but with the purpose of creating cross-neurotype dialogue” (65). Skinner intentionally crafts these categories as expansive containers for heterogenous modes and praxes, but she records that many interviewees are nonetheless wary of these ideas and often concerned that they will prove reductionist or essentializing in effect. Precisely what these categories name remains generatively nebulous, and the question of whether they are even ultimately useful framing devices remains open for discussion.

            “Neurodiversity and Access,” another core chapter, covers two related areas of access concerns for neurodiverse theatre makers: “Neuronormative social expectations and their relationship to communication” and “Neuronormative economic expectations and models of professional productivity” (77). While the preceding chapter was largely concerned with making neurodivergent subjectivities known to audiences through performance, this chapter addresses the importance and challenges of understanding and working receptively with neurodiversity among theatre makers. Skinner notes that neurodiversity has sometimes presented particular challenges in connection with the interpersonal work of theatre labor, and she points to Damian Milton’s concept of the double empathy problem to propose that a concerted effort by all parties can go a long way toward resolving issues stemming from (neuro)diverse needs and experiences. The economic demands that give rise to usual neuronormative expectations in artistic collaboration and, additionally, require productivity and specific conceptualizations of value present an even greater challenge to the needs of neurodiverse theatre makers. This short book does not attempt to fix the full economic conditions shaping theatre, but it does spotlight the “London-based female-led theatre company Spare Tyre” and their “Kinder Producing model” as an example of successfully implemented practical strategies for modifying standard theatre practice to accommodate neurodiverse participants.

            Serving as something of a conclusion, “Neurodiverse Theatre Futures” circles back on the suggestion of a dawning “neurodivergent turn” in theatre and reviews the many questions raised over the course of the book. These questions generally have not led to definite, final, finite answers, and Skinner quite elegantly presents this collection of open questions as a starting point for ongoing creativity and investigation as theater’s neurodivergent turn emerges.

            Despite how open-endedness characterizes the way the book concludes in terms of theory and big conceptual ideas, Skinner finds practical takeaways with which to end the book. In parting, “Being Neurodiversity-Affirming: Some Notes” offers the reader bulleted lists of actionable steps theatre makers can take to bring theatre and neurodiversity together and more productively.

            For AMEND, this short book is an exciting incitement to inquiry. When discussing ways of increasing neurodivergent presence both for audiences and among theatre makers, Skinner notes that neurodivergent people often have distinct relationships to temporality and emplacement; what, then, might there be to say about neurodivergent aesthetics and early modern anxieties about adherence to (and departures from) the classical unities? Early modern Europe saw explosions of commercial theatre activity as capitalism emerged, but established traditions of civic theatrics and religious drama also persisted across this time of great economic change; how were neurodiverse access considerations for early modern European theatre making different or similar to the contemporary concerns Skinner addresses, and what lessons might her writing about them teach us, either way?

            Theatre & Neurodiversity is, overall, a handy and thought-provoking text for anyone interested in neurodiversity and the arts in any capacity. The chapter on aesthetics stands out for its theoretical engagements while other chapters familiarize the reader with more practical issues of neurodiverse theatre and possible ways to address them. In barely over 100 pages, this informative volume does a remarkable amount of work.

Cover of Theatre & Neurodiversity by Amy Skinner

Bridger M. Bartlett, PhD, is AMEND's postdoctoral research associate. Broadly, their research focuses on neurodiversity as an intersectional consideration in 16th- and 17th-century English culture. With Laura Seymour and Bradley J. Irish, they are a co-editor of the collection Neurodiversity and Early Modern English Literature (forthcoming from Edinburgh University Press). Bartlett's research has appeared in ELH and JEMCS, and they have recently completed a monograph manuscript on neurodiversity and race-making in early modern English literature.