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For neurodiverse audiences, the world of performing arts is not always a welcoming place. So in its seventh annual Big Umbrella Festival, Lincoln Center is inviting that world to come to them.
From April 4 through April 20, 2025, the arts complex will host companies from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Mexico and Peru in programs specially designed to entertain and engage with children, teens and adults with autism, sensory and communication disorders or learning disabilities. The festival's events cover a spectrum of theater, music, dance, comedy and visual art.
Many of the events feature interactive and participatory elements. In the outdoor installation Los Trompos, audiences can play with giant spinning tops. In The Sticky Dance for Sensory Groovers, they can help create a world of sticky tape. In When the World Turns, they can navigate a landscape of greenery and shadows. And the Big Umbrella Festival also provides opportunities for performers with developmental challenges: Twice on April 19, Peru's Teatro La Plaza will mount a production of Hamlet that is performed in Spanish (with English subtitles) by actors with Down syndrome.
“Access to the arts for all is core to what drives our work here at Lincoln Center,” says Shanta Thake, Lincoln Center's chief artistic officer. “We are proud to continue expanding the Big Umbrella Festival, meeting neurodiverse audiences where they are and embracing a multitude of ways to engage with the arts." To make the Festival even more accessible, all of its programs are presented free or on a choose-what-you-pay basis.
Here are the events in this year's Big Umbrella Festival, per the festival's press release:
- The U.S. premiere of When the World Turns: an immersive and participatory collaboration from Polyglot Theatre (Australia) and Oily Cart (U.K.) inviting audiences to explore a wondrous landscape of foliage, light, sounds, and shadows (April 4–6 and 11–13)
- Esrawe + Cadena (Mexico) bring their captivating outdoor installation, Los Trompos, to Damrosch Park—inviting families to rest, play, and engage with eight colorful and larger-than-life spinning tops (April 4-6, 9–13 and 16–20)
- Virtual Crip Movement Lab, a workshop for all disabled people and their non-disabled accomplices, and an exciting evening of standup comedy, both presented in collaboration with the ReelAbilities Film Festival (April 3 and 4)
- A melodious introduction into the world of chamber music and its instruments with CMS Kids: Moving Music—where audiences can experience how an ensemble works together through active listening, movement, and call-and-response activities (April 5)
- The U.S. premiere of The Sticky Dance for Sensory Groovers, an interactive dance performance co-created by Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto of Second Hand Dance (U.K.), encouraging audiences to freely explore a colorful tapestry of sticky tape in this tactile, participatory experience (April 11–13)
- E.P.I.C. Players returns to campus to present a sample of their 2025 season, shining a light on neurodiverse talent through music, theater, and dance performances (April 12)
- The New York premiere of Hamlet by Teatro La Plaza (Peru), a joyful and enigmatic reimagining of Shakespeare’s timeless work performed in Spanish (with English captions) by a cast of actors with Down syndrome (April 19)
- Indoor visual art stations led by Lincoln Center’s education team and teaching artists (April 11–13)
- Outdoor creative activity stations inspired by the Los Trompos installation led by Lincoln Center’s education team and teaching artists (April 4–6, 9–13 and 16–20)
All events are consistent with Lincoln Center's guidelines for Relaxed Performances, meaning that attendees are free to speak up, move around and an enter and leave as needed. Some of these events require tickets, so head to Lincoln Center's Big Umbrella Festival page to reserve yours—and let an umbrella be your smile.
