Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending an off-Broadway showing of Addy & Uno at the Kirk Theatre on theatre row in NYC. I attended on behalf of PunkinFutz and I’m so happy I did! The show is promoted as “the first family musical about disability, kindness and friendship.” I think this is an accurate description of the play. Addy & Uno’s portrayal of diversity and inclusion is uplifting and important for every audience member (young and old).
The story of Addy & Uno is the story of two friends who are living with special needs and have built a bond over that and more. Addy is a young girl who has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Uno is a young boy, who is very introverted and doesn’t like crowds. Uno has Autism. The two of them have a beautiful, understanding, and encouraging friendship. The rest of the plays shows the struggles and triumphs of Addy and Uno, along with their friends who are living with special needs. The play embraces diversity including deaf/hard of hearing, paraplegia (mobility/wheelchair), and vision impairment. The storyline teaches that children with special needs are special in many ways, while shining light on their struggles in school with bullies and the importance of kindness within relationships/friendships.
I appreciated the play’s diversity of the characters, but was disappointed in the lack of racial diversity amongst the cast. That said, the current cast is a great group of performers, who made the play very pleasurable and interactive for everyone in attendance. The show ran only an hour long, enabling children to sit through it calmly. The audience was filled with equal amounts of children, who were excited about singing the songs and answering the questions asked of them, and adults/parents, who were thankful to have this message engagingly told to their children.
While the theater, itself, has the necessary accommodations for individuals with adaptive mobility needs, other accommodations would be appreciated. Also, the show is not sensory-friendly, as the performance is bright and loud in a fairly small space. It would be terrific if future stagings considered additional adaptive accommodations/options.
If you’d like to check out the show for yourself, HURRY! It’s happening now at The Kirk Theatre in NYC | 410 W 42nd Street New York, NY! Tix are available on telecharge.com!
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