Sensory-Friendly Performance — A Christmas Carol at Union Arts Center

Sensory-friendly performance for neurodivergent guests and people with sensory processing differences, made with Sensory Access and Seattle Theatre Group: house lights stay on; free movement between seats and in and out of the theatre; electronic devices and headphones allowed; food and drinks allowed; a reduced-stimulation room with comfortable seating, quiet, fidget tools and trained staff; sensory-friendly snacks at concessions. Sensory bags (noise-cancelling headphones, earplugs, sunglasses, fidgets) at the Accessibility table. Tickets are bought online for this specific performance.

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About this adventure

Union Arts Center (the former ACT Theatre) sets aside its Sunday, December 13 matinee of A Christmas Carol as a sensory-friendly performance, created with Sensory Access and Seattle Theatre Group for neurodivergent children and adults and anyone with sensory processing differences. The show is the theater's 51st-season staging of Dickens's Christmas Eve tale, in which Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts; it runs 90 minutes with no intermission in the Allen Theatre. For this performance the house lights stay on, audience members may move between seats and step in and out of the theater whenever they need, and phones, tablets and headphones are allowed, as are food and drinks. A reduced-stimulation room with comfortable seating, fidget tools and trained staff is open during the show, and the concession stand stocks sensory-friendly snacks. The regular production carries advisories for loud noises, fog, bright and strobe lights and images that may frighten young children, and the theater recommends it for ages 5 and up. Families can preview the building with the theater's social narrative for the Allen Theatre before they come.