Spotlight On Success - October
Celebrating inclusive arts partnerships
Barking Gecko's inclusive theatre for
the hearing impaired
Open Arts, an initiative between the Department of Culture and the Arts and Disability Services Commission, was launched at the Subiaco Arts Centre on Tuesday 12 October, 2010. Open Arts is a collection of stories from the Disability and the Arts Inclusion Initiative (DAII) celebrating inclusive arts partnerships. ArtsEdge is spotlighting one of these stories.
Consider what it would be like to watch a live theatre performance without being able to hear any dialogue between actors, or stage cues, for instance a door bell. For those with a hearing impairment this is reality.
In 2006-2008, as part of the DAII, Barking Gecko Theatre Company partnered with the WA Deaf Society and four primary schools in Mosman Park and Shenton Park, to create and deliver inclusive theatre workshops and performances for the hearing impaired community.
“One of our core tenets is to make theatre accessible to everybody, particularly kids who may suffer from disadvantage or are disadvantaged in such a way that they can’t experience theatre or the performing arts,” said Ms Katherine McLean, Barking Gecko’s General Manager.
Barking Gecko coordinated a series of workshops centred around their existing production, Skylab. The first stage involved a workshop held with hearing impaired children to explore performance art and expression in the undertaking of an interpretive performance of Skylab.
The second stage focused on breaking down some of the barriers hearing impaired children face when interacting with hearing children. Hearing and non-hearing students from Mosman Park School for Deaf Children, Mosman Park Primary School, Rosalie Primary School and Hollywood Primary School worked together to explore theatre performance and the use of story. The children were divided into four groups of mixed hearing and deaf children and together created a piece of theatre. One hundred and six children (19 deaf students and 87 hearing students) and 15 teachers were involved.
Ms McLean said the second stage of the workshop series was very positive with a sharing of skills between the hearing and hearing impaired children, for example, the deaf children taught those without an impairment, how to communicate in AUSLAN.
“[It was] wonderful and enriching for the students … the fact that [Barking Gecko] had booked interpreters for our students facilitated in their enjoyment of the show,” Jane Cox from Mosman Park School for Deaf Children told Barking Gecko at the end of the workshop.
Sensory Theatre: The Jub Jub, Work in Development showing. Photo courtesy of Barking Gecko.
“You realise that these children don’t get the opportunity to go to the cinema, they don’t get the opportunity to go and see theatre, they don’t get to listen to radio – so there is a whole heap of things that fully-hearing people get to experience that’s just out of range for hearing-impaired children,” said Ms McLean.
The project has prompted Barking Gecko to incorporate an AUSLAN-interpreted performance for all their shows and at every performance. The project inspired Barking Gecko to become involved in similar activities, including the incorporation of Sensory Theatre in their program each year. This program includes touch tours for children with disabilities and theatre pieces which are orally transcribed for sight impaired children.
The Donkey with artist Sarah Nelson performing in a Work in Development showing of The Jub Jub. Photograph courtesy of Barking Gecko.
Further information:
Barking Gecko Sensory Theatre Projects
More information about DAII and other programs
