Carrie White, surrounded by flames in her bloodied prom dress, is an image burned into the public consciousness. Her trajectory, from an insecure abuse victim to a telekinetic mass-murderer when pushed too far, has transfixed audiences since the release of Stephen King’s novel 50 years ago. Now at the ADC, we see her portrayed as an autistic young woman navigating the trauma of social rejection and its fatal consequences in Carrie: The Musical. I spoke to director Emma Lewis and lead actress Ellie Worth about portraying Carrie as autistic, opening up a rich discussion about autistic representation on stage and how they both navigate theatre as neurodivergent people.

For Emma, portraying Carrie as autistic “wasn’t a decision really…it’s just so fundamentally ingrained in the way the character is written.” She’s direct: “I just don’t think it’s responsible to portray Carrie any other way”. There are no changes to the script to make this interpretation explicit; it’s rooted in subtext, in Carrie having “something fundamental about her that puts other people off”. Both discuss their online research on the many autistic women who have found refuge in Carrie, and how this has been integral to forming their own interpretation of the character.

“I just don’t think it’s responsible to portray Carrie any other way”

Ellie paints a beautifully nuanced picture of the role: “She is lovely and she’s sweet but… the abuse that she’s been subjected to has brought elements of her to the forefront that would otherwise would not have been shaped in the same way.” She focuses particularly on moments in the play where she can play Carrie as more than just a horror archetype, and demonstrate her character’s depth, describing “a line in the musical… when I’m reading about telekinesis and it says that people with this condition are termed anomalies, and she just kind of looks off and goes ‘anomaly?’”. As Ellie recognises this is the first time that Carrie “feels that her difference has been considered exceptional rather than worthy of banishment”, she tells me, “I quite like that it almost feels like… a validation of her difference. And then in that scene when she realises she’s able to knock things over, she runs off giddy with happiness, which is a really nice thing to play, because you never really see Carrie that happy in the show.”

Emma agrees, detailing the balancing act of showing Carrie as someone pushed to breaking point while not making her “an object of pity”. “You don’t just cast her as a villain, because you can see exactly every single step of the way that she was pushed.” To her, seeing Carrie in this more sympathetic light is what separates the audience from the story’s actual antagonists: “I think it’s interesting that many people write her off as a horror villain in a hyperbolic way –they’re no different to the characters who continue to villainise her even after her death.”

“You don’t just cast her as a villain, because you can see exactly every single step of the way that she was pushed.”

Ellie’s passion for her character is infectious – you can feel her love and sympathy for Carrie bleeding (no pun intended) into every word she speaks. She mentions Carrie being “one of her first hyperfixations”, so auditioning was inevitable. “When it was being pitched, I was like: ‘I know it’s my last term and exam term, but I have to do it.’” Realising that “wanting to play Carrie in a way that I relate to has been something that I’ve thought about very heavily for a long time”, she states “it’s cathartic that I finally get to do it”. Although beforehand Ellie “didn’t really internalise the depth of it all”, through “knowing all the baggage that comes with Carrie”, and through her own “relationship with neurodivergence”, she feels she can now understand the depth of her character’s trauma. Ultimately, the lead has no doubts: “it’s completely worth it for portraying a character that I’ve had such an intimate connection to for so long.”

The commitment to making the show welcoming and understanding extends to the tech and welfare too. Emma describes using the sound in the show to represent a meltdown at the end, with “a non-naturalistic low rumbling that builds into a continuous roar”, while understanding the possibility for this to become overwhelming. As a result, Ellie has received all sound files for the show to ensure that she can be acquainted with all possibly problematic sensory aspects before opening night. This is just one example of the dedication being put into the show – an undeniably seminal one for representing autism, both on and off the ADC stage. It’s no wonder that this is one of the most highly anticipated productions of the term.

Ellie reminds readers that “opening night is prom night! It’s black-tie with prizes for the best dressed!”. Certainly, the ADC is about to witness a week of prom nights that they won’t be forgetting any time soon.

Carrie: The Musical is showing at the ADC Theatre from Tuesday 7th to Saturday 11th May, at 7:45pm.