Edmonton's deaf arts festival makes some noise

Chris Dodd watches stage performances without the benefit of sound. A deaf actor and playwright based in Edmonton, he's passionate about the arts but often leaves the theatre feeling disconnected.

"It can be boring to sit there and to watch an actor on the stage going on for minutes at a time and not being able to hear what they're saying," Dodd said in an interview Wednesday with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

Interpretation services aren't always available. Even when they are, something is often lost in translation, he said.

"You have to choose between if you want to pay attention to the actors on stage or you want to pay attention to their interpreter," Dodd said.

"Your focus is kind of split. It's not perfect."

• Canada finally has a performance series dedicated to the work of deaf artists

Dodd was born with normal hearing but gradually lost it through childhood as the result of a meningitis infection when he was three years old.

That didn't deter him from studying drama at the University of Alberta, where he became the first deaf student to complete the program in 1998.

But despite some initial success in the field, he soon faced a serious lack of professional opportunities.

That lack of accessibility and representation inspired him to found SOUND OFF, Canada's first national festival dedicated to the deaf performing arts.

SOUND OFF is intended for both deaf and hearing audiences. American Sign Language and live interpretation is incorporated into each performance. Deaf artists perform alongside their hearing counterparts.

The festival is back for its third year, bringing deaf artists from across the country to share their stories and talent on the Edmonton stage.

This year's festival started Wednesday and closes Sunday.

The line-up is the largest yet, with five main stage shows, an improv night, staged readings and workshops running from Feb. 13 to Feb. 17 at the ATB Financial Arts Barns in Old Strathcona.

The festival includes several performances of Songs My Mother Never Sung Me, about a deaf mom and her hearing son. The bilingual piece is performed and sung in English and American Sign Language. 

"We've been able to bring in actors [from] across the country," Dodd said.

"We're a showcase of deaf performers and deaf talent and it's really wonderful for the audience to be able to participate in this unique theatre experience." 

Dodd said Canada lags behind other countries in developing and supporting deaf theatre. Deaf performers remain under-represented but there has been a recent shift, he said.

More deaf performers are finding the limelight and American Sign Language is being incorporated into an increasing number of productions.

"It's a very beautiful language," he said. "When the interpreters themselves are part of the action, they're on stage, they're part of the performance, it's just not for people who are deaf but for all audiences."

'The time is right' 

Dodd points to the upcoming Citadel Theatre production of The Tempest. Instead of having a traditional sign translator on the side of the stage, this version of the Shakespeare play will have sign language and spoken English interpreted to the audience by the cast.

• Citadel Theatre crosses the sound barrier with deaf-friendly staging of Shakespeare

Josette Bushell-Mingo, of Sweden's National Deaf Theatre, will direct the production —a re-imagined version in which Prospero's daughter Miranda is deaf and the two aren't able to communicate clearly.

Dodd said he's proud to advance deaf arts in Canada.

"We're having a lot of good theatre involving deaf actors across the country right now. I feel there is good reasons for that," Dodd said.

"I feel that for SOUND OFF, the time is right."