Improv comedy is chaotic, unpredictable and relies on the actors to read the social cues of the audience, yet Alison Pollard-Mansergh says that should never be a barrier to working with people who are neuro-diverse.
She has become an advocate for creative people on the neuro-diversity spectrum, and says while some people with autism may lack social cues and be too literal to comprehend people’s nuances – that’s not the case for everyone. Which is why she loves to work with neuro-diverse actors in her travelling theatre company.
“People look at neuro-diversity as a disability,” says Alison, who credits it for her successful career as an actor. “It’s just a different way that your brain is wired. It used to be that people would think that of left-handed people. I’m AuDHD [a combination of autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder]. Creativity is very strong in both areas.”
The drama teacher has spent decades touring with Faulty Towers The Dining Experience, London’s longest-running immersive theatre show, most recently as the artistic director.
“I absolutely embrace my neurodiversity,” she enthuses. “It has made the company successful, being able to completely block out everything else around me and just focus on this passion. But it also means that I struggle with things like doing my laundry and remembering to eat.”
Gisborne-born Alison has performed professionally in more than 30 countries and worked in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, such as the Sydney Opera House and Royal Albert Hall.
This month, she will return from her Queensland base to tour Faulty Towers The Dining Experience across the North Island.
“The stage is the dining space,” she says. “Everything happens in and around the tables, and the guests are also very much a part of the action. We meet, greet, seat, serve and perform.”
You may feel disappointed if you’re expecting Waldorf salad to be on the menu. The famed scene from TV show Fawlty Towers, where the guest repeatedly lists the ingredients – celery, apples, walnuts, grapes – isn’t usually part of the show. But it could be, given the antics are driven by improvising with guests.
Fawlty Towers had only 12 episodes in the 1970s, but became so iconic that decades on, second and third generations can recite lines made famous by John Cleese (Basil Fawlty), Prunella Scales (Sybil) and Andrew Sachs (Manuel).
“We don’t use snippets of the actual script – even though we are allowed to – so it’s not a replica of the series, otherwise everybody could just sit and watch it on TV,” she explains. “What we do is an homage to that series.
“There are elements that you’ll go, ‘Oh, I recognise that,’ but because it’s immersive, we have to react to the way the crowd does.
“We’ve had people turn up in costume as the Germans or the Major. And we especially love that. One guy in Edinburgh brought suitcases and later wanted to check in all night. So we create something around that. And there are those who just want to be a spectator.
“No two nights are ever the same,” tells Alison, who has spent many years portraying Sybil, but handed over the reins of running the business in 2019 to her son Jared, 34.
Performing has been a lifetime love for Alison. She started her first theatre business teaching speech and drama when she was only 15. The, she went to Teacher’s College in Palmerston North at 18. Trained in ballet, tap, singing and piano, she moved to Australia in 1995. That’s where she founded Interactive Theatre International, with Faulty Towers The Dining Experience launched in Brisbane in April 1997.
Single after being married twice, she says she is “now married to the joy of my life – education”.
The mother-of-five guest lectures at universities, runs workshops, mentors and trains the company’s performers, and also runs an after-school care programme. This year, she celebrated her 60th birthday. Her four sons and one daughter surprised her with a family photoshoot.
“All my children are creative,” she says. “My youngest son produces rap music and is particularly popular in Japan. They all have an amazing sense of humour. It was lovely to have everybody together.”
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is touring Wellington, Palmerston North, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Tauranga and Auckland. For tickets, see eventfinda.co.nz.
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