We Live By The Sea Visual Story

WE LIVE BY THE SEA Devised by Patch of Blue Relaxed Performance At 59E59 Theater Saturday, April 28 at 3pm This visual story is designed for visitors to the Relaxed Performance of We Live By The Sea. Relaxed performances are for people who benefit from a more relaxed performance environment including individuals with an Autism Spectrum Condition, sensory or communication disorder.

This document contains information about the play and images to help prepare you for your visit. This visual story has information to help you to find your way to 59E59 Theaters where the play is being performed.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT 59E59 THEATERS Where is the play on?

The play is being performed at 59E59 Theaters.

This building is on 59th street between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue in Manhattan.

Here is a picture of the front entrance.

When you enter the foyer there is a desk where there will be a member of staff who can help you and answer any questions you might have.

You will wait in line to pick up or purchase your ticket at the Box Office.

Once you have collected your ticket, you can go up to Theater B, which is where We Live By The Sea will be performed.

To get to Theater B from the Box Office, you can either take the elevator (located to the left of the Box Office) or the stairs (located directly across the Box Office).

If taking the stairs, you will walk passed the E:Bar located one floor up from the Box Office.

To get to Theater B, continue upstairs for one more floor, and you will see signs for Theaters B & C.

If you are taking the elevator, press 2.

When you are exiting the elevator make a left.

You will see an usher wearing a blue shirt who will guide you to Theater B, which is located at the end of the hallway.

This is what the entrance of Theater B looks like.

This is what the inside of Theater B looks like. These are the seats in the auditorium where the audience sit during the play.

Your ticket will have information printed on it which will tell you which seat is yours in the theater.

An usher in the theater will show you where your seat is located.

This is what the stage looks like from the seats. The stage is in front of you on a slightly lower level. The stage may be darker than in the photo when you first see it.

Soft Performance Booklet

Dear Reader,

We can’t wait to see you in the audience for our soft performance of We Live By The Sea. We will be using reduced lighting effects, low amplification and minimal projection for this show, but for anyone who wants to know more about what to expect, we’ve written up this guide that tells you what happens in the show!

We hope you enjoy, and welcome any discussion about the performance.

Best wishes,

Patch of Blue

The Setting

We Live By the Sea centres around the character of Katy, who is a 15 year old on the autistic spectrum, and is set in the small town of Filey in Yorkshire.

Characters

Katy is a 15 year old teenager with autism. She loves her sister, Hannah, her imaginary dog, Paul Williams, the colour purple and the sea. She can only talk to people once she has touched their shoes, but is very friendly after that. Katy is played by Alex Brain.

Hannah is 18 years old and Katy’s older sister. She looks after Katy, making sure she goes to school and leads a happy life. She does her best to take Katy to the beach as often as Katy wants and takes her to the zoo, even choosing to delay going to university to look after her sister. Hannah is played by Alex Simonet.

Paul Williams is Katy’s imaginary dog (but the audience can also see him!). He exists in Katy’s mind and is her best friend. He looks out for Katy and helps her process what is happening around her.

Paul Williams is played by Lizzie Grace.

Ryan is Katy and Hannah’s new neighbour, having recently moved to Filey. He doesn’t know anyone in the town so befriends the sisters and discovers their world. He has his own Youtube Channel and updates it regularly. Ryan is played by Tom Coliandris.

The Scenes

Entrance Katy and her imaginary friend Paul Williams welcome the audience by tapping their shoes as their enter the auditorium. This is so that she can talk to you during the show. If you do not want your shoes tapped, just tell Katy or Paul that you would like to just go to your seat. Hannah and Ryan will be inside, lying down or sitting up on the stage.

Scene 1 - Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra Katy starts the play by narrating a piece of music, introducing the instruments as they come in. A video will play behind her. She grows more excited and starts to stomp her feet to the music and lights will glow around her, including lightbulbs above her.

Scene 2 - Introductions Katy introduces herself, her sister Hannah, her imaginary friend Paul, and another character Ryan who the audience will meet properly later. Katy and Paul talk about Captain Birdseye and their secret language, as well as introducing the musicians at the back of the stage and the technicians who are operating the lights and sound.

Katy and Ryan also talk about Paul Williams being a very popular dog, with a video playing behind them.

Scene 3 - School The lights go out except for a spotlight and we see Katy at school, being told by her teacher that over the summer holidays she must prepare a presentation to give when she returns in September. The school environment becomes overwhelming for Katy and she becomes upset. There are some harsh noises that get quite loud and the lighting pulsates to reflect her anxiety as people talk over one another.

Scene 4 - The Story To calm down, Katy tells the story of the King and his two princess daughters, accompanied by music. One of the daughters doesn’t want to be a princess, but a brave knight!

Scene 5 - Morning in the LIfe of Katy We then see a morning in the life of Katy, told by all the characters with music.

There is then a scene at the beach where there is video and noise.

Scene 6 - Katy’s Bedroom Afterwards, Hannah, Paul and Katy meet Ryan for the first time when he sent by his mum to introduce himself to them having just moved to their small town. Katy sees an opportunity to make a friend and is concerned that Ryan isn’t as keen as she is. Nervous and not sure how to deal with Katy’s behaviour, Ryan leaves.

Scene 7 - Beach The next day, Katy Hannah and Paul have gone to the beach, where they see Ryan.

They beckon him over and he tries again with Katy, bonding with her by acknowledging Paul. When Katy and Paul go to play in the sea Ryan bonds with Hannah, and we learn that the sisters’ mum left when Katy was diagnosed as being on the spectrum, and their father recently died. Katy runs into the sea with her clothes on, and Hannah and Ryan have to encourage her to come out. There is a sudden lighting change as Katy jumps into the sea. Katy begins to tell Ryan about a big wave she once saw, whilst Hannah tells the audience how nice it is to have someone to listen to her. Katy invites Ryan round for tea, and he accepts.

Scene 8 - Car We flashback to a time before the sisters met Ryan, when they went to the zoo in the car, and Katy became distressed. There is a video playing behind them of the road. The lights are pulsing because of her nervousness and Katy starts to shout louder than usual.

Scene 9 - Katy’s Bedroom Back in the present we see Ryan visiting Katy the next day, and their friendship developing, she tells him more about the big wave. She also tells Ryan about the nasty names children at her school call her, and how it makes her feel. They then talk about how Katy loves dancing, but can’t go out dancing because there are too many crowds. Katy says that being with Ryan is like a big wave, shown with a video.

Scene 10- Ryan Monologue Ryan stands in a spotlight and tells the audience about how Katy is making him feel better after the death of his best friend.

Scene 11 - Montage We see a montage of the events of the next few weeks, showing Ryan and Katy’s friendship growing and Ryan growing closer to Hannah. Paul Williams chases after imaginary balls and may climb into the seats, but he’ll only go where the ball is being thrown.

Scene 12 - Paul Williams Monologue Paul tells the audience about being an imaginary friend to Katy and how he’s proud that he is able to cheer her up easily and be her best friend. He talks about the other children at school and how they don’t understand Katy, and how one day, even though this will make him sad, he hopes Katy will be able to give him up because people will becoming more understanding and accepting of her, and she will have a real friend, Ryan.

Scene 13 - The House Ryan comes to Katy’s house that evening and Hannah kisses him. He tells her he thinks it is a bad idea as a development in their relationship could be problematic for Katy. He tries to spend time with Katy but can’t do it and leaves, Katy becomes distressed and immerses her head in the water tank she has in her bedroom to simulate the sea. There is a quick lighting change as Katy submerges her head. She runs down to the beach in the middle of the night, and Ryan and Hannah search the town for her. They have to use torches to see where they are going, and there is music and video.

Scene 14 - Beach They eventually find her on the beach- she tells them she has been practising breathing underwater in the tank so she can swim down to the bottom of the sea and find her dad. Ryan makes her see that although her dad is gone she will always be able to feel him, and eventually she calms. Hannah tells Ryan that their father died at sea, and that his name was Paul Williams. They dip their feet in the sea, and Katy falls asleep. Hannah tells Ryan that he should not feel sorry for Katy as she is happy a lot of the time and sad a lot of the time as we all are. She worries that she does not know what Katy’s future is but knows that she’ll be there. She falls asleep, Ryan leaves. Thinking she will never see him again, Hannah wakes up Katy and they go home.

Scene 15- The House When they arrive home and go into Katy’s bedroom they see Ryan has decorated Katy’s room like a disco, with a disco ball and fairy lights. They dance. With the support of Ryan Hannah and Paul Katy gives her presentation to the class, telling them about the big wave, but in the moment abandoning her prepared speech to tell them how she would love them to accept her, but now she has the love of her family and a friend she is happy. The class applaud her, and she is happy.