Director/writer Jess Telling brings her show Chameleon to Edinburgh Fringe this summer. She was eager to tell us more about it!
“Embarking on a journey of self-discovery following her autism diagnosis, Chameleon grapples with the complexities of love, identity and – most importantly – soggy chips.
Reeled in by Snake’s intoxicating charm and irresistible jawline, she soon learns that conversation is a delicate and sometimes deadly dance.”
Where: Paradise in The Vault
When: 12-17 Aug
Ticket link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/chameleon
What are you looking forward to the most at Fringe?
It’s almost impossible to narrow down one specific thing I’m most excited for with the Fringe.
I’m looking forward to our collaboration with the SWAN Scotland society – a charity dedicated to supporting autistic women, girls and non-binary people.
Not only am I attending their in person SWAN Places meet-up on 11th August in Edinburgh, but we’re giving out complimentary tickets to members of their charity.
I’ve never been part of an event dedicated to supporting autistic women and non-binary people, so I’m looking forward to connecting with members of my community in a relaxed and accepting environment.
My team and I are dedicated to accessibility, particularly for neurodivergent individuals. I’ve found in the past that despite my love of theatre, asking for accessibility support has been somewhat daunting.
With the collaboration of members of SWAN Scotland, we’re asking for their help on our approach to accessibility in theatre and the representation of the experiences of autistic women in our show.
We view ‘Chameleon’ as a deliberately constantly evolving project, as accessibility shouldn’t be viewed as a set-all standard, particularly in theatre.
I think the opportunity to evolve and learn more about accessibility in theatre, and hopefully pass that information to others, is incredibly exciting!
Also – watching my producer Gabi McGurk try haggis for the first time!
Tell me about Chameleon. I know it a humorous piece with technical beats about neurodivergence – what’s it all about?
Well, it’s based on my first relationship when I was a newly turned 18 year old. I can confidently say this now – it was an absolute disaster.
Will Knight’s character, Snake, is based on him and there are some lines in the play which were real things my ex-boyfriend said to me when we were dating!
In a couple of rehearsals, Will has genuinely asked me if it was a real thing that was said to me, and to his horror, it absolutely was.
As an autistic woman unfamiliar with dating, I had no idea what a good healthy relationship should have looked like and instead believed that what I was experiencing was the standard.
I’ve spoken to many other autistic women and friends who all have had the unfortunate experience of a ‘Snake’ in their lives – including some members of the cast and creative team!
There is a disproportionate amount of abuse experienced by autistic adults in relationships (Griffits et al., 2019) compared to those who are neurotypical.
So, intertwined with humour, techno beats and bad puns, the core message of this show is shining light on the vulnerability of autistic women in relationships and to show that they are never alone.
They are not ‘stupid’ for not understanding what a healthy relationship should look like and that it can happen to anyone, but greater awareness of this issue must be achieved.Â
As an autistic woman, I wish to emphasise with this production that autism is not something to be ‘pitied’ or cured and, as such, to amplify our voices.
Autistic women and non-binary people may have felt afraid to speak up and embrace the joys of being neurodivergent alongside recognising its challenges.Â
You are both writer and director of the show. How have you found juggling those roles?
One thing I’ve learned during this experience is to not get too attached to the words. Our company is a big believer in experimentation and that approach definitely isn’t reserved to just the physical action.
The cast have been great in saying to me at some rehearsals – ‘Jess, what on Earth does this mean?’ to which I will read it back and go ‘That’s an excellent point actually’.
During our first initial rehearsals, I had a bad habit of trying to figure it out immediately in rehearsal which, of course, is not a great or effective environment for rewrites.
I snapped out of this pretty quickly as I turned to our dramaturg, and my best friend, Linnae, said, ‘I really don’t like this line’ during rehearsals.
They immediately rebutted with: ‘You’re a director right now, not a writer’.
This is something I’ve kept in mind since! Writing is for outside of the rehearsal room, and directing is inside of the rehearsal room!
Its been lovely to have such a great cast that is quick on their feet as there are some lines in the show that change each night!
We’ve been practising this in the rehearsal space and there have been some wonderful moments that have come out of it as a result.
There’s some great inside jokes that weren’t originally in the script, but then, they were added in as we were laughing at them way too much during rehearsals to not include them!
What’s so exciting about soggy chips?
I have been waiting for this question! Chippies aren’t just a staple of British culture after nights out but, they weirdly became a haven/nightmare for me after nights out.
The thing I enjoyed the most about going out was actually leaving the club and being able to meander to a chippy down the road and enjoy some food with my mates without having to shout over loud music.
Of course, when I first moved to Manchester, I wasn’t familiar with the local late night takeaways at all. I’d find myself asking my friends what they would be getting and hating the sound of all of their suggestions.
I’d always resign to a simple portion of play chips – maybe with some peri-peri salt if I was feeling brave. The chicken burgers and sauces my friends raved about were a textual nightmare for me.
Particularly after a night out at a club with loud, pulsing music and having drinks spilt on you, the post-night out takeaway brought its own challenges – texture.
My absolute worst experience was when I went to my regular takeaway, knowing exactly what I was going to get and being given a portion of soggy chips!
That made me more overstimulated than before, and I wanted to avoid explaining my texture problems. It’s easier to let my friends munch through my leftovers!.
For me, it’s exciting because it’s such a simple nightmare that so many people can relate to, but it can also be so much more than that if you’re autistic!
Chameleon reimagines this moment combined with the awkwardness of a terrible first date – and yes, we use real chips!Â
What’s next after this run?
During the Fringe, we’re planning on connecting with other neurodivergent theatre makers that are local to or can travel to Manchester reliably.
We’d like to turn Chameleon into part of a larger project called The Lizard Anthology consisting of three new plays from these artists that we may contact with!
We want all the plays to revolve around unshown experiences of neurodiversity and autism, we’re particularly eager to hear from autistic women, non-binary people and those of marginalised genders as well!
We want to put autism and the unshown aspects of neurodiversity at the front of the theatre scene.
Not only will we be adapting Chameleon depending on the feedback from members of the SWAN Scotland charity but, it will also contain a new chapter focusing on Chameleon navigating her career in a neurotypical world.
Did you know that only 22% of autistic adults in the UK are employed whilst 77% of autistic people want employment (I Am Autism, Manchester, 2021)?
Also – some well-deserved time off for me and my team!