In collaboration with British theater group Bamboozle, the public welfare project Wish of Starfish has been infusing joy into the lives of children who are on the autistic spectrum or have serious learning disabilities, Lin Shujuan reports in Shanghai.

It might have been a gloomy and rainy Monday morning, but Diandian's mood was hardly dampened by the dreary weather conditions.

The smile that was etched on his face as he waited impatiently for the school bus to arrive said it all.

This was the first time the 9-yearold, who currently attends the Shanghai No 4 School for Deaf-Mutes, was going to watch a show in an art theater.

Born with impaired hearing, Diandian was diagnosed with autism when he was 3. As such, bringing him to a theater was not something his parents had even considered until Wish of Starfish, a public welfare project initiated by the China Welfare Institute and operated by the Shanghai Children's Art Theater, or SCHAT, was launched in early 2017.

Through theater works, workshops and localized productions of plays specific for children with special needs, the project aims to inspire kids with learning disabilities and teach parents and special education providers how to better educate such individuals.

Since the start of the project, SCHAT has been working closely with Bamboozle Theater, a British theater group that has been performing solely for children with learning disabilities for 25 years.

This year, Bamboozle Theater brought three productions-two designed for children and young people who are on the autistic spectrum, and one for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities, or PMLD.

The first two shows were a space-themed production titled Moon Song, and Storm, which was inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest. The third show was an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's Gentle Giant.

SCHAT set aside the entire month of April to put on these shows, all of which were sold-out events.

"By presenting these shows, we aim not only to create more possibilities for learning-disabled children to experience truly accessible theater-this project is also aimed at promoting the Bamboozle approach, which is centered on the values of love, encouragement, tolerance and equality in the education for people who have emotional, behavioral or learning disabilities, as well as their parents and teachers," says Liang Xiaoxia, director of SHCAT.

Each show is attended by no more than six children who sit on the stage alongside the actors. The parents, caregivers and teachers are seated in the backstage area, observing the play and learning how the performers communicate with the children. The adults are urged not to provide any instruction during the show so that the children can fully enjoy the performance.

According to Christopher Davies, the founder and artistic director of Bamboozle Theater, an audience cap is put in place to ensure that the children can effectively interact with the actors.

"It is important that we create a space for these children," says Davies. "We want to send the message that they belong here and are important."

During the show, actors engage the children by weaving their names into the songs being performed and encouraging them to become a part of the show. The artists would at times also mimic a child's movements to make him or her feel comfortable and accepted.

The show that Diandian attended was Moon Song, in which a girl named Megan falls asleep and begins to dream. In the dream, she flies to the moon in a rocket and encounters comets, shooting starts and silvery creatures. Diandian, who has a keen interest in vehicles, was so intrigued with the rocket that he seized it the moment he was offered a chance to touch the prop.

Nicole Arkless, a performer who has been with Bamboozle Theater for 10 years, said that there is no better reward than the joy of seeing a child being engaged during a show.

"It's a shame that society has not been very nice to people who are different," Arkless says. "Disability is largely invisible in society because our world isn't built for anyone to get access to it."

Arkless adds that she considers it a privilege to be a performer as she gets to witness how the theater has helped children with extremely challenging behavioral problems, supported families and effected change in how schools care for such children.

Liang, the director of SCHAT, says that she shared a similar sentiment when she first met Bamboozle during its tour of Edinburgh in 2016. She notes that she was impressed by the theater's approach, which "has not only deeply moved the audience with their performances, but also brought a brand-new educational philosophy" that she believes could fundamentally influence how Chinese society cares for these children.

In 2017, the Wish of Starfish project was born. To bolster its capability of catering to children with special needs, SCHAT has also invited psychology and medical experts to train their staff. The center has also improved its infrastructure, such as adding a ramp from the gate to the elevator and putting up signposts to direct the children.

Hu Jie, the mother of a 10-year-old who was born with Down's syndrome, still vividly recalls the graceful bow her son gave the actors at the end of their show in 2017 when Bamboozle made its Shanghai debut.

Hu admitted that she was initially apprehensive about letting her son attend the show as he had previously demonstrated that he was rigid and awkward in such settings.

"I had never imagined that Yueyue, who is extremely shy, was capable of doing that," she says.

"It's up to us parents to offer our children an environment like the one that has been created by Bamboozle. We need to respect who they are and give them space to explore and engage."

Bamboozle has even had an impact on people who have never caught their shows.

Since its inception, the theater has actively engaged with special education schools across China to help train teachers.

Wang Ying, the principal of Shanghai Pudong School of Special Education, recalled that the school's first encounter with Bamboozle was through its World War II-inspired production Down to Earth. Wang says that the teachers, students and parents were so captivated with the show that they lingered outside the theater to discuss how they could introduce theater into the school's curriculum.

After nearly two years of preparation, during which the school's teachers took training classes and workshops, some of which were conducted by Wish of Starfish, the school started its own theater class earlier this year.

"After two months of trials, the changes in our students are obvious," says Wang. "The theater class has given them a new platform for communication and imagination, which we used to consider impossible."

As part of Wish of Starfish, Bamboozle granted SCHAT the license to perform Down to Earth and The Tempest. Because of this, the theater can now deliver Down to Earth in Chinese. This Chinese version has been staged at special schools in Shanghai to more than 100 students since last September. The Chinese version of The Tempest will make its debut later this year.

Davies says that Bamboozle has been keen on sharing their methodology as the company believes that it can help many children in the country who suffer from learning disabilities. He pointed out that the number of autistic children in China alone amounts to about 2 million.

"Even if we present four shows a day, we'd need more than 200 years to reach every one of these autistic kids," he says.

"But we believe our methodology is a great tool that adds to teachers' existing toolkit. The more people we can share it with, the better."

Contact the writer at linshujuan@chinadaily.com.cn