This visual resource is for children and young adults
visiting Sherman Theatre.
The visual story is to help you prepare for a new
experience and become familiar with the surroundings
and the performance.
We’d like to thank Autism Puzzles Cymru who have
kindly assisted us with the creation of this visual story
and given us advice for our relaxed performances.
Welcome to Sherman Theatre. You can find the theatre
on Senghennydd Road and this is what it looks like
from the outside.
This is the main entrance to the theatre. The words and
pictures on the outside tell you what shows are
happening inside.
Once inside you will be in the foyer/reception area. The
foyer is where everyone waits until the show starts.
There are lots of tables and chairs here too. The foyer
can get quite busy and noisy before the show as
everyone waits to go into the auditorium (where the
play is shown) so it will be quite full of people.
If it’s too noisy for you, there will be a quiet corner in
the foyer where you can go.
The Box Office is in the foyer. This is where you can
buy tickets or collect tickets if you’ve already paid for
them. There may be other adults and children waiting
here too when you arrive.
The Bar is in the foyer too. This is where you can buy
drinks and food. You can also bring your own drinks
and food with you. You can also purchase some
souvenirs of the show including books.
The toilets are at the back of the foyer.
These are the toilets.
Here’s a map of the Sherman foyer to help you.
This is one of our ushers. They will be wearing a black
polo shirt with white writing on it.
You can ask an usher if you have any questions about
Sherman Theatre or the show and they will do their
best to help you.
When it’s time to go into the theatre you will hear an
announcement: “Welcome to Sherman Theatre. The
Studio is now open. Please switch off mobile phones,
and please note that the use of recording and
photography equipment is not permitted during the
show. Thank you and enjoy the show.”
You will hear the announcement in Welsh too.
You will hear more announcements as it gets closer to
the start time of the show, telling you how long you
have left until the show starts.
Studio
When you go into the studio theatre you will see
different sized chairs and mats facing the stage on three
sides. On your ticket it will say “unreserved” which
means you can choose a seat that someone isn’t sitting
in for yourself. Or you can sit on one of the mats in
front of the stage. Make sure you don’t sit on the stage
though, as that’s for the actors.
You might be able to hear birds and the wind rustling
through the trees. You’ll hear background sounds and
music throughout the performance.
There are two people in the show, but they will play
different characters.
Nan and the wolf.
Heti and Little Red Riding Hood.
Nan will come out and have a chat with the audience
while she’s waiting for Heti to arrive and you’re
choosing your seats.
Once everyone is sitting down the lights in the theatre
will then dim, but don’t worry, they will stay on so you
can see if you need to leave the theatre before the end
of the show.
You will hear a woman’s voice and Heti will appear and
Nan will go to make some dinner. She’s making
spaghetti bolognaise, because it’s Heti’s favourite.
What’s your favourite food?
You’ll hear the wolf howl. Don’t worry, it’s not real.
You will then hear some music and Nan and Heti will
start singing a song, ‘Hanging out with Nan’. Heti
doesn’t want to stay with Nan, but Nan is excited about
Heti coming to stay with her.
Nan will arrive to pick Heti up on her motorbike. The
engine is quite loud, and the light on the front of the
motorcycle is quite bright. The breaks also squeal when
Nan goes round corners because Nan drives too fast.
When they get to Nan’s you’ll hear the fire crackling.
When Heti says she doesn’t want to go to the woods,
she warns Heti about the Bwgibo. The lights will go blue
and you’ll be able to hear howling in the distance, but
don’t worry, it’s just Nan.
When Nan steps into the woods while Heti is changing
her shoes, music will start to play and it’ll get brighter
again.
Nan will start looking under rocks and in the river,
saying hello to all the animals who live in the forest.
Nan gives Heti a present inside a box. While Heti
investigates the box, Nan starts to play some music and
sings a song about how the present used to belong to
her, and all the exciting things Heti could do with it.
When Heti opens the box she’s not sure what the
present is. She stands on it. She licks it. She hits it.
Nan shows Heti what it is by putting it round Heti’s
shoulders. It’s a red cloak.
While Heti tries out her new cloak she jumps around
while music plays and the fairy lights will come on.
Nan says there is a story about the cloak, and starts to
tell Heti the story of little red riding hood.
Nan says that the cloak is old. And magic. It protects
and keeps safe everyone who wears it. Every time the
cloak is magic, the forest lights up!
Nan says to Heti that they should play Little Red Riding
Hood.
Nan says that Heti needs to take the basket of food to
Grandma because she’s not feeling well to make her feel
better. When Nan says Heti has to go into the woods,
Heti gets scared. But Nan says she’s old enough to go on
her own.
Heti takes the basket.
Nan warns her to watch out for the Bwgibo again. You’ll
hear the wolf howl and the woods will get a bit darker.
Nan’s only joking, though.
Heti asks for help from the cloak and the forest lights
up. As she sets off she starts to sing, but she can still
hear the wolf howling.
The wolf will appear, but don’t worry it’s just Nan
dressed up, pretending.
The wolf will sing about food, because the wolf is very
hungry! The wolf will ask if you have any food, she’s
that hungry. Don’t worry, you don’t have to feed her!
The wolf then smells something – it’s Little Red Riding
Hood! Little Red Riding Hood screams when the wolf
and her come face to face and hides.
The cloak helps her to feel brave though, and she comes
out of hiding to talk to the wolf.
The wolf wants to know what’s in Little Red Riding
Hood’s basket. Little Red says it’s food for Grandma.
The wolf decides that she’s going to steal the basket of
food from Little Red, and eat Grandma & Little Red too.
The wolf starts singing, ‘Look around you’. Heti and the
wolf start to dance too. Little Red starts to explore the
woods, seeing all the things Nan was pointing out
earlier.
Little Red realises she’s going to be late for Grandma,
but wolf says there is a shortcut and send Little Red off
a different way, planning to get to Grandma’s first.
Music starts to play and Little Red sings on her way to
Grandma’s.
The music will get louder, and the lights will get
dimmer as Little Red races to Grandma’s.
As it gets darker Little Red will start to worry she’s got
lost.
Heti decides she doesn’t want to play anymore.
The wolf, meanwhile, on the other side of the woods
has found Grandma’s house.
The wolf pretends to be Little Red to get in. You will
hear Grandma’s voice.
Little Red meanwhile has decided to carry on to try and
find Grandma’s. She sees flashing Christmas lights and
finds Phillip the Squirrel.
Phillip says that he’ll help Little Red find Grandma’s.
Phillip also warns Little Red that the wolf will try and
eat Grandma.
Meanwhile, the wolf has gone into Grandma’s. She
howls again as she makes her way upstairs, trying to
decide what sauce to have with Grandma.
The wolf finds Grandma in bed. Grandma eventually
realises that it’s not Little Red, but the wolf.
Little Red make it to Grandma’s, so the wolf decides to
eat Little Red first, and hides Grandma under the bed.
The wolf turns the lights off and gets into Grandma’s
bed so she can pretend to be Grandma.
The cloak helps Little Red to be brave and she goes into
Grandma’s bedroom.
Little Red realises that it’s the wolf in Grandma’s bed as
the lights come on and the wolf decides to eat Little
Red.
Little Red says the wolf can’t eat Little Red or
Grandma, and offers the wolf crisps from her basket.
The wolf happily eats these, and Little Red rubs the
wolf’s ears, which makes her happy.
Heti tells the wolf that she’s not really Little Red Riding
Hood and takes off the cloak, and says that she lives in
the woods with Grandma now.
The Wolf says she’s sorry, she just loses it when she’s
hungry.
Heti agrees to bring the Wolf a basket of goodies every
week as long as the wolf doesn’t eat Grandma.
The Wolf takes the basket of goodies and disappears
into the forest to find Phillip.
Heti checks on Grandma and makes sure she’s okay.
Heti then calls for Nan and tells her how much has
happened since she got the cloak. She tells Nan all
about it.
As much as Heti is glad to see Nan, she still misses her
mum. She puts the cloak over both her and Nan and the
fairy lights come on.
Nan and Heti sing ‘Hanging out with Nan’ along to
music. All the fairy lights come on and Phillip makes a
reappearance as Nan and Heti dance around the space.
Nan puts the cloak on, and her and Heti disappear into
the woods together as the lights go out.
After the show
At the end of the show everyone will clap, which is how
the actors know if you’ve enjoyed the show.
When you leave the theatre, everyone will want to go
out at the same time, but don’t worry there’s no need to
rush. Take your time and make sure you stay with the
people you came with.
We hope you enjoyed the show and come back to visit
us soon!
