BEHIND THE SCENES
At the end of 2021 my life took a turn: I was diagnosed with autism. While this raised questions, it also illuminated how, since the age of eleven, I had discovered theater as a powerful medium to showcase my strengths.
This personal journey intertwines with another, lesser-known story: that of Grunya Sukhareva, a Russian psychiatrist who, in the early twentieth century, formulated the first definition of autism.
The Forest School will explore how neurodiversity and art can enrich one another and how an ensemble of non-professionals on the spectrum create a production that pushes the boundaries of inclusion and creativity.
You can follow our journey here for a whole year. This is our story—!
P. S. (He/him)
- Age: 27
- Appearance: 1m86, brown hair
- Nationality: Belgian with French roots
- Residence: Has been living in The Forest School for 5 years
- Personality: Funny, emotional, honest, loving
- Biggest Fear: What’s written in the newspapers
- Biggest Dream: To become a professional singer like Bart Peeters or Ed Sheeran
- Greatest Talent: Loves to cook, enjoys writing
- Scar: He has always been overprotected from the big, bad world
I. P. (She/her)
- Age: 44
- Appearance: 1m66, red hair
- Loves: kittens, yuppies and other cute fluffy animals that feel warm and soft. A calf sucking on her hand. Lemonade. The smell of exhaust fumes from a 2-stroke mobile mixed with a soft breeze cacharel aftershave pour l' homme. Double digits on the clock e.g. 19:19
- Hates: sounds that make her angry such as the annoying FLAP FLAP FLAP of someone walking past on slippers, or the tapping on a keyboard, or the awful sound of the Tetris blocks in Blokken in waiting for vrt nws or smacking eating sounds at the table. That is combined with slurping, nibbling, half-suppressed burps and the tapping of cutlery on the plates. - prickly shetland sweaters. Making her hands dirty or greasy. Her nose that always suddenly starts to itch when she just sits with her hands in the dishwater so that she has to quickly dry her foam hands before she can scratch.
- Biggest Fear: Rejection, being misunderstood.
- Biggest Dream: To find a family, a place to call home.
- Scar: Because of her childish naivety, she has often been trapped by people who do not have her best interests at heart and her gullibility has often been taken advantage of.
L.K. (She/her)
- Age: 50
- Appearance: 1m67
- Loves: Cats, sun, sea, taking care of others.
- Hates: prejudice, conflict, lies.
- Background: single mother with child; orphan.
- Talent: empathy.
- Biggest Fear: loneliness.
- Biggest Dream: To be accepted and understood.
- Scar: she's been misunderstood her entire life.
P. F. (He/him)
- Age: 10
- Appearance: Brown hair and dark eyes
- Background: from Brazil. Was abandoned by his family at the Forest School. His family didn't know how to take care of him.
- Talent: He can sing well and plays the saxophone.
- Greatest desire: is to be in a band and tour the world.
- Biggest Dream: he wants to see his family and his native country again.
- His greatest fear: is fear of abandonment and what not to disappoint his family. Afraid of the dark.
N. K. (She/her)
- Name: Mrs Not Knowing. Much more not knowing than knowing.
- Age: 48
- Personality: Curious and naive. Often tossing and turning in brooding. Sometimes also furious about everything that has already happened. Single mother.
- Background: evolved from a social worker to someone who needs support and assistance to be able to continue to participate in this society.
- Role in Forest school: gardener? Likes to grow honest, tasty and healthy food, vegetables and fruit, and likes to share with people who have little. Likes to listen and also likes to talk.
- Greatest desire: to broaden the image of ASD among the general public. Later do volunteer work for poor people.
- Greatest fear: insecurity about 'living together' in The Forest School with people I don't know.
- Scar: searching for my own identity after diagnosis of ASD and divorce. Not yet understanding my own diagnosis, little self-insight.
R. (He/his)
- Name: Randel
- Basics: 32 years old, 182 cm, green eyes, brown hair, beard.
- Background: grew up in a small apartment. He has always found the world a scary place. He felt like he was never understood by other people.
- Talent: he has excellent powers of observation. He can notice the smallest details.
- Function: he entered the Forest School at the age of 12. His function is caregiver.
- Greatest desire: he wants to be normal and to be understood by other people.
- Greatest fear: being lonely.
N.B. (He/his)
- Name: Nota Bene (remarkable!). Used to be called "Not A Bene" (Not a good one) but then changed his name.
- Basics: looks like me. Likes to wear a cap with ear flaps to protect his ears from nonsense.
- Function: facility manager. Or as he likes to call it: "the bullshit exterminator".
- Talent: monitoring correct information hygiene.
- Scar: He was switched with a "normal" child as a baby.
