By Danielle Levsky
SAN DIEGO — By creating an inclusive environment for audiences and the creative team, Moxie Theatre brought Diana Burbano’s Sapience to life as a story that shared the many complexities and different experiences of how neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals communicate with themselves and with each other.
In Sapience, Elsa (Mariel León) is a primatologist on the autism spectrum, who is working with Wookie (Nancy Ross), an orangutan she’s studying and training to speak at the zoo where she works. Her sister Miri (Vanessa Duron) brings her son AJ (Enrique Xavier Martinez) to the zoo, imploring Elsa to watch him. AJ, a nonverbal teenager on the autism spectrum, starts to form a special and profound friendship with Wookie. Meanwhile, Miri and Jason (Alexander Guzman), Elsa’s former partner and current colleague, start to pursue their own relationship all while trying to support Elsa. The play is truly about how much each one of us yearns to be understood by the world we inhabit.
So often neurodivergent tales are told in a way that reduces their characters to tropes, stereotypes, and pity, but the conversations and interactions that Wookie (beautifully portrayed by Ross as innocent, curious, and highly physical) has with AJ are honest and captivating. He teaches Wookie about the nature of human interaction, about death, about kindness. In a pivotal moment in the play when Elsa and Wookie are interacting, and Elsa acknowledges that she can indeed understand Wookie’s communications, there is powerful knowledge and comfort exchanged, both with words and without. On a whole, the playwrights’ careful attention to naturalistic writing, coupled with the actors’ authentic delivery and timing contributed to the theme of communication.
With a style teetering between absurd and naturalistic, there were a few moments I found where the direction could have been clearer on timeline jumps, or communication/situational changes. This was quite clear in the moments when AJ and Wookie would begin interacting and understanding one another, indicated by a recurring auditory cue; perhaps similar techniques could be applied to Elsa’s flashbacks and other communication moments with Wookie.
With thoughtful writing, direction, acting, and set design, Moxie also brought in inclusion specialist Samantha Ginn, who creates educational and acting programs to include neurodiverse individuals on stage. From the moment audience members enter Moxie’s space, there is a decompression area, and in the theatre itself, accessibility for all viewers is prioritized and displayed at the start of the show.
Moxie carefully curated a production team and space that would not only support this show, but care for the world of the play: specifically, in the production, characterization, and direction to respect and honor neurodivergent experiences. Sapience showcased the quality and caliber of Moxie’s work, and I’m excited to see how they tell stories in the future.
Sapience ran through February 20 at Moxie Theatre 6663 El Cajon Blvd Suite N, San Diego, CA 92115. Check out upcoming productions and information at moxietheatre.com.
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Danielle Levsky (she/her) is an arts and culture writer, clown, producer, and educator based in San Diego whose work features people, ideas, and principles that highlight the experiences of diverse audiences.