The story of Tides: An Autism Story is seemingly quite modest: it’s the story of the experiences of Dylan Ward, an autistic man, from birth to adulthood. But through observing the struggles of being different and being perceived as incapable, this play has a very important message about life, love and empathy.
The story starts with Dylan being born. We see Dylan playing in his room as a child, lining up his toys — a behaviour commonly associated with autism. The scene freezes and Dylan explains to us that he is autistic. Dylan takes us through other milestones in his life such as his school days, his time at university, and his love and work lives as an adult. Throughout his life, an Attenborough-esque voiceover describes his behaviour, reflecting the scrutiny and detachment he feels as an autistic person.
Tides: An Autism Story is written and performed by Joe Dennis, who delivers the material with charm and dynamism. He energetically switches between the past Dylan in the scene and the narration of the present Dylan who is reflecting on what happened. In addition, he plays other characters such as a stern school teacher and a joyless boss, holding up a doodle of their face in a notebook over his own — a simple idea but very funny and effective. There are a lot of tonal shifts between scenes that are funny, whimsical, sad, emotional and serious, but we are always with Dennis, who makes this work.
Amid the chaos of the performance, the story and themes get a little lost. Though from the outset it is made clear that we are watching an ‘autism story’, some of the scenes and ideas aren’t clearly tied back to the message of the piece. The final act deals with a mistake Dylan makes at work, which is certainly relatable, but it’s hard to say how this connects to the theme of isolation in the autistic experience. The story is quite episodic and lacks a sufficiently engaging emotional arc, and the ending is a little unsatisfying given that the story lacks a falling action to conclude the events of the play.
Nevertheless, Tides: An Autism Story is still worth seeing for its rich, compelling performance, humour and its exploration of a really important topic told by a marginalised voice.
