Silence reigns in mime — and for one Auckland mime artist it is a permanent part of her life.
Suzanne Ovens (17) was born 97% deaf — the result of rubella which her mother suffered during pregnancy.
Long-legged and lean, with intensively expressive eyes, Suzanne uses mime as one of many methods to relate to the hearing world.
She is not mute, but has to rely on lip reading and can freely converse in one-to-one conversations.
She speaks with a heavy impediment, but if she strikes any difficulty relating her feelings, she spontaneously leaps into uninhibited mime.
Since learning mime at her local drama school, Suzanne has proved remarkably successful in the art and is often asked to perform at parties.
The television talent quest Star Zone is one of several contests she has won with her silent dramatics.
She is also a member of the “Deaf Sign Singers,” a group of 11 deaf people who perform sign language to music.
A dedicated athlete, Suzanne went to the World Deaf Games in Cologne, Germany, last year, running in the 100m and 200m events. She found the competition stiff, but enjoyed the camaraderie.
A student of Selwyn College, and a member of their “A” basketball team, she is studying for University Entrance.
She spent six years at the Kelston School for the Deaf but left because “I wanted to mix with hearing people, and found conversation limited with the deaf.”
Suzanne says she has few, if any, problems functioning full-time in the “hearing world.”
“Sometimes I feel a bit left out of general conversation,” she concedes, citing a recent school camping trip as an example.
She was missing out on after-dark conversations shared by their schoolmates because she could not see what they were saying. The problem was soon overcome when a torch was passed around each speaker to use.
She has not always felt at ease in a world full of “hearing humans,” and mentions times of total solitude and loneliness.
However, her active involvement in a variety of sporting and social pastimes and the ability to express herself in mime, leave some people unaware that she is deaf.
Suzanne is uncertain about her future, but is considering getting into the field of art.
Photo caption – ABOVE: Suzanne Ovens puts on such a good face people do not realise she is deaf. LEFT: “Threading a needle” — in mime.
