An autistic, nonbinary, creative type takes center stage in new play
Contemporary American Theater FestivalThrough July 28Shepherdstown, W.Va.Catf.org For their new uniquely titled play, “Tornado Tastes Like Aluminum Sting,” Harmon Dot Aut draws heavily from life.
Like the playwright, the new work’s central character Chantal Buñuel, called CB for short, is an autistic, nonbinary creative with synesthesia, a condition that causes some people to experience more than one sense simultaneously (like tasting words for instance).
But how much of Harmon’s three hander, currently making its world premiere at the annual Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in historic, queer-friendly Shepherdstown, W.Va. (just a 90-minute drive from D.C.), is specifically autobiographical?
Parts are imagined but location and circumstances are pretty exact, they explain via phone during a rehearsal break. The story unfolds in rural Kansas surrounded by relative poverty; the family doesn’t have much, but they’re loving. “Often when I see people depicted from rural areas who don’t have a lot of money, we’re invited to make fun of them.
