Mime comes naturally to the profoundly deaf and a group of Manawatu people have perfected their communication skills to present a drama.
This is a first in New Zealand and the Manawatu Deaf Drama Group (MADEDRA) will present the show at the Abbey Theatre on September 26 and 27. They will take it to Auckland in November for the Deaf View Conference and eventually hope to travel overseas.
The one and a half hour show is timed to coincide with Deaf Awareness Week.
Social worker Sue Townsend said she hopes the performance will help to bridge the gap between deaf and hearing people and increase understanding of the problems deaf people face.
Drama tutor Rolmedo Olmedo has worked with the drama group for two and a half months and has found them the best actors in mime he has ever worked with “as they are so natural”. He said he was very happy to work with the deaf “who are sensitive people who understand each other so well.”
The performance is in two parts the first play called “People” which expresses the deaf culture and feelings, the second part shows characters in different skits.
A core group of six people are involved in the drama with another 10 people working in publicity, make-up and backstage duties.
Social worker Bernie Wilson has been the liason between hearing drama tutor Rolmedo and the deaf group. She said there have been a lot of laughs such as when Rolmedo used hand signals which spelled out an off-beat message in sign language.
The drama production has had the support of the Deaf Association and the Community Arts Council but ticket sales for the performance will only cover costs of costumes, makeup and theatre hire.
The idea for the drama sprang from the experiences of deaf people seeing drama performed in the profoundly deaf London and America. In March Lindsay Jones had the suggestion of a drama group to the Deaf Club and there was sufficient interest to pursue it.
After the show the group hopes to present their drama to schools, polytechnic and Massey University and any other group interested in seeing it.
There are 34,000 severely or profoundly deaf people in New Zealand 1200 who are children and 433,000, adults who are hearing impaired. Deaf Awareness Week runs from September 22–28 and for the first time deaf people who have little access to the arts can watch a show put on by their own people which will equally appeal to deaf and hearing people.
FREE tickets to the MADEDRA show. See centre page for details.
Photo caption: Performers in the MADEDRA Show are pictured (left to right) — Lindsay Jones, Annette Scott, Shaun Ruffell, Dorothy Jones, Peter Barker and Erina Haronga.
