Chameleon

Please find our visual guide to Chameleon here.

Chameleon is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Dark comedy play Chameleon is a fearless exploration of life as a newly diagnosed autistic woman, based on the personal experiences of autistic writer-director Jess Telling. Laced with dry wit and splashes of existential dread, follow our heroine as she plunges headfirst into an identity crisis and questions whether her all-consuming relationship is worth losing herself. 

Expertly sucked into a world of mixed signals, terrible techno and pressure to meet her boyfriend’s ever-rising expectations - she wonders if it’ll always be this complicated…

Then: a stranger at a costume party - enigmatic, neurodivergent, and unapologetically themself. 

As her boyfriend threatens her newfound confidence, Chameleon must decide whether blending into a neurotypical world is the answer after all. 

Written and directed by Jess Telling, Assistant Facilitator for Writing East Midland’s Beyond the Spectrum writing group and nominated for Neurodiverse Reviews’ Actually Autistic Excellence Award, “Chameleon enables us - even just that little bit - to shed the camouflage too” (EdFringeReview).

Fresh off a 4* run at Ed Fringe’24 as a beneficiary of the Keep it Fringe Fund, Chameleon is “full of wit”, “vulnerable” and “emotive” (EdFringeReview). Through every turn, the play gives an authentic glimpse into the struggle of autistic women in emotionally abusive relationships. 

CAST: Hope Rose (she/they)

James Murison (he/they)

El Butcher (she/her)

CREATIVE TEAM:

Writer/Director - Jess Telling (she/her)

Producer - Gabi McGurk (she/her)

Designer - Maddy Weatherby (she/her)

Dramaturg - Linnae Abraham (they/her)

Associate Producer - Hannah McCoy (she/her)

Access Consultant - Kate Fox (they/them)

Lead Researcher - Sarah Jane Nuttall (she/her)

Accessibility:

Please note this venue is not wheelchair accessible.

All performances are sensory-adapted. Sensory toys, ear plugs and visual guides will be provided.

A trauma-informed practitioner will be at each performance to handle any distress that may arise, for any questions about access please email chameleonprods@gmail.com.