Sound Symphony: A sensory show made for and with Autistic young people
A co-production between Oily Cart and Independent Arts Projects
NEW! Conduct your own Symphony at our interactive siteThis is a show where all sounds are welcome! Rather than sitting still and being quiet, we encourage the audience to get involved and make music their own way. Sound Symphony is an interactive and sensory show. You will experience beautiful, live classical music woven together with singing and a wide range of weird and wonderful sounds from popping bubble wrap to singing fish!
The show is designed for small audience groups to be able to accommodate and engage young people who experience the most barriers to access. It is a relaxed, stimulating environment which is great for audience members who enjoy being able to move around, make noise and get involved. This is a show for sound seekers; celebrating all different ways of making music together.
Sound Symphony toured the UK in Spring/Summer 2022. You can find show resources on the access page
Following the success of the live show, a Sound Symphony At Home Experience will be available early in 2023. For audiences who were unable to attend a show in person, a limited number of specially designed At Home experiences will be sent to families by post in early 2023. We will prioritise young people who experience barriers to accessing our touring work in venues. To register your interest please email Joanna at hello@oilycart.org.uk
Sound Symphony was originally produced in 2019 by Independent Arts Projects in association with Capital Theatres, Edinburgh with support from Creative Scotland and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
The interactive site is commissioned by The Space. Sound Symphony 2022 is funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, BBC Children in Need, Garfield Weston Foundation, Arts Council England, Wandsworth Council, Hugh Fraser Foundation, the Radcliffe Trust and the Thistledown Trust.
Media response to Sound Symphony
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“Sublime… Ellie Griffiths’ entirely beautiful Sound Symphony… delightfully interactive… As beautifully conceived in its visual and tactile dimensions as in its music and sound, Sound Symphony is a brilliantly crafted, wonderfully benign, deeply moving piece of theatre.”
Mark Brown, Herald on Sunday/National
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“Hugely sophisticated… …it’s an inspirational piece of merry, joyous, interactive music-making that Ellie Griffiths and her team have fashioned with the spectrum of diverse sensory issues in mind…”
Mary Brennan, The Herald
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“Paying tribute to the sculpture of music, Sound Symphony has a keen interest in involving its audience in the sights, feels and environment of creating music through their own bodies, and the show accommodates a variety of senses for the whole audience.”
Dominic Corr, The Skinny
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“A joyful and exquisite piece of work, beautifully designed by Katy Wilson and lit by Colin Grenfell, and composed and performed with terrific sensitivity and exuberance by three musician-theatre makers, Greg Sinclair, Sonia Allori and Shiori Usui.”
Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman
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“I was compelled to review this show because of my own diagnosis… At this performance, I felt welcomed and comfortable. There was no dread of doing the wrong thing or interrupting. In this space, it was okay to be autistic, and stim, to laugh and squeal with joy, to clap whenever you were pleased or just watch and smile… thinking back, I tear up over the air of inclusivity and receptiveness in the room.”
Brian Tyrell, The Fountain
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