Off-Broadway Access Review -
Picnic at Hanging Rock

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Image of the "Picnic at Hanging Rock” playbill in front of the stage

 

General Note

This is a review of the accessibility of the theater, of the lighting/sound/scent design of the show, and a list of content warnings as a way to prep folks with various needs before they go see it. 

This is not meant to scare anyone away from seeing the show. Most productions have about the same amount of content warnings and sensory warnings to go along with it, they’re just rarely explicitly written down. 

For some people, knowing these things ahead of time makes it easier to enjoy the show because they know what to expect. And, often, makes those people more likely to see it in the first place. I hope that it’s helpful! 

I am also happy to clarify any specifics, just send me a message or an email and I will respond when I can.

Theater

Greenwich House Theater

All comments on the accessibility of lighting are in reference to seats in the center of the orchestra

Bathrooms:

  • there is an all-gender restroom with three stalls located down the flight of stairs that’s to the right of the box office (also accessible by elevator)

Other theater accessibility:

  • there are 5 steps from the street to the orchestra level. If you need a ramp to enter, there is a temporary one - you can email them in advance about access needs at tickets@greenwichhousetheater.com

  • the back two rows of the orchestra level (J and K) are up on a slight step

Click here for more information on the physical accessibility of this theater.

Light/Sound/Scent

General:

  • I did not need earplugs for this show

  • the primary “straining” things from this show are from the down lights onstage sort of reflecting into the front audience simply because the theater is so small. There are very few potentially triggering cues in the actual light plot, it can just spill out a little at times

  • the aisles are used extensively

  • the sensory accessibility of this show is similar to that of The Notebook

Pre-Show: jungle noises that can occasionally be a little loud

Act I:

  • bright blue LED center stage pointed at the audience for ~3-7 seconds after Bertie (the tracker) walks down the aisle after the line “give me a sign” 

  • briefly loud after “guess what she was wearing” 

  • slight on/off briefly at the audience after “perfectly awful” when the girl in glasses goes down the aisle

Act II:

  • ~30 seconds of slightly alternating lights at the end of the Blood & Scandal song

  • light physical force is used against the girls

  • light blood warning after the suicide, also the sound gets very loud as Appleyard goes up the stairs

  • back wall projections get kind of hazy briefly in a slightly disorienting way, but it’s never flashy and lasts no more than a minute

  • slightly loud bird noise at the end of the “we’re here and we’re gone” song

Content Warnings

  • suicide

  • slight references to anti-Native racism

  • single use of the G-slur for Romani people

  • singular moment of brief speculation that certain characters could have been assaulted