In Touch is a co-production of An Inclusion Theatre Company and Theatre of
Nations in association with Graeae Theatre Company, National Theatre, the
British Council, and Sense. The cast is made up of deafblind, blind, visually
impaired, D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, sighted and hearing people sharing their
stories. They are accompanied by Jenny Agutter and Yevgeny Mironov telling of
the lives of Olga Skorokhodova and Professor Suvorov, pioneering deafblind
academics.
We are told about
the actors’ lives, experiences of blindness and deafness, and their hopes and
dreams. The most heart-wrenching part for me was hearing what the last thing
they remember seeing was. The show is not designed to induce pity, quite the
opposite, it challenges any misconceptions that deafblind people are different,
showing that they have the same hobbies, hopes and dreams as anyone else. It is
saddening to realise just how hard it is for them to engage with the rest of
the world with such a pitiful lack of inclusive opportunities.
The mix of spoken,
signed, and physical theatre made for an eclectic, engaging show. Parts were in
Russian, leaving me reliant on the surtitles. This, and the way the focus
jumped around from actor to actor, from one theme and style of performance to
another, gave a sense of disorientation, which I assume was intentional. This
was probably the most inclusive event I’ve ever been to – there was audio
description, surtitles, and live BSL interpretation. May this be an example of
what can be achieved and its lead followed by other theatres.
No comments:
Post a Comment