←Recommendations of Light Switch

It is always wonderful to find plays with neurodiverse protagonists that... actually correctly represent the neurodiverse protagonists. Couple that with an wonderful dialogue, humor, heartbreak, and a well-written story that allows us to follow Henry on his path through life, allowing us to grow up with him and watch his triumphs, obstacles and failures, and you have Osmundsen's light switch. Add this to your reading list, or production list, if you haven't already.

There is not much more that I can add to the very worthy praise that this play has received. Osmundsen has created a play that is not only engaging but creates a necessary and important work for the autistic community in the arts. In an industry which relegates people with autism into tropes and secondary plot points, it is so refreshing--and vitally needed--to see the journey of Henry play out with so much heart and truth. This play needs to be more widely read and produced.

(02/09/2025) I joined NPX so I could read this play! Dave Osmundsen masterfully illustrates the obstacles of being both LGBTQ+ AND neurodivergent, with its protagonist Henry on a journey to find a Victorian-esque romantic connection in 2017. As a queer theatre maker with autism, I saw a lot of myself in Henry and enjoyed his character arc from beginning to end. I also enjoyed its many literary references and allusions to iconic 19th-century works. I would love to work on this one day!

10/4/24: This play turned a light switch on in me! Dave Osmundsen centers the autistic experience so beautifully in all of his plays, but Henry, the central protagonist of Light Switch, is a character with such magnetism and specificity that he transforms the world around him at times into a version of the Victorian era literature he so adores. This play is earnest, heartfelt, and written from a marvelous and caring perspective. I was so glad to see it at Open Space Arts!

I love this script! I was lucky enough to do the sound design for its production at Open Space Arts. Charming, funny, heartbreaking, and relatable. The dialogue is quick-witted and feels true to life. I've seen it so many times and it never gets old!

Light Switch is a profound and funny play that smashes stereotypes about autistic adults while also telling a great story. As an autistic playwright, I found reading this play very inspiring. Henry is a character who learns and grows throughout the show, but that growth is on his own terms, not in search for some neurotypical "normal." I also appreciated the ways this play depicts autism as a strength, particularly in Henry's single-mided devotion to scholarly study.

Euphoric, messy, confusing, frightening – these adjectives can apply to being in love, or being autistic in a neurotypical world, and Osmundsen evokes both experiences with warmth and clarity. Henry, the protagonist, is obsessed with the classics of nineteenth-century literature, and like those great novels, the romantic misadventures of this play's characters are depicted with a minimum of sentimentality and a wealth of empathy. Everyone in this play is yearning for something or someone they can't quite reach, but they never stop trying, and Osmundsen leaves the audience with the hope that someday, maybe, they just might succeed.

With “Light Switch” Osmundsen has created one of the great central characters of contemporary theater in a beautifully written story existing at the intersection of neurodiversity and queerness. The play is a classic example of the specific being universal. What defines us as individuals differs in the details, yet we are all after the same things in life. Just like the main character Henry, we all seek love. I highly recommend this play for theaters with young ensembles and for people interested in sitting down to read a fantastic play that will entertain and move them.

Light Switch is the play the Autistic community needs right now. Henry is a big R Romantic at heart, and in him, Osmundsen shines a light on what being Autistic is actually like. Henry is complicated, funny, loyal, loving, and stalwart in his beliefs, and through spending these 100 pages with him, I feel like I’ve grown accustomed to his charms. All I know is I’d want Henry as a friend!

I've known about the existence of this play for a long time, and I would like to apologize to myself for taking this long to read it. It is nothing short of marvelous, witty and heartfelt at the same time. I wish I had read it a long time ago. Fortunately for me, it is also, at its core, a play about forgiveness.