Location
Metro ArtsStart date
2023-09-06End date
2023-09-09Language
engNotes
From the Brisbane Festival website:
"Personal doesn’t discriminate… inviting deaf and hearing audiences alike. A notable and important example of where access is not part of the performance, access IS the performance. ” ★★★★★ - Arts Hub
It wasn’t until Jodee Mundy was five years old and lost at Kmart that she realised the rest of her family was Deaf. She didn’t see ‘disability’ – only the love and protection of those closest to her.
In Personal, she conveys her experience as the only hearing person in a Deaf family, through a captivating blend of performance, storytelling, multimedia and animation. Mundy delves into the contradictions of inhabiting two worlds: living in a Deaf family, where using sign language is natural; and living in a society that sees only the family’s disability with voyeuristic curiosity.
The role children of Deaf adults play in paving the way for their family – as interpreter, authority, conduit – is central to this very intimate story. Created with a talented team of collaborators and presented in two languages via a virtual interpreter, Personal is a smart, touching and deeply personal work exploring dis/ability and how we perceive one another.
Presented as part of the Metro Arts x Brisbane Festival 2023 program.
Each performance of Personal has Auslan and English integrated throughout.Research statement
Background
This research interrogates how understandings of dramaturgy can be extended via ‘Personal’, a theatre work that combines multiple theatrical ‘texts’; archival footage, videography, live and recorded Auslan, spoken English, written English, objects and the performing body both live and recorded. This research extends Hay’s notion of Dramaturgy as “a process of making sense both for the production and the audience” (1983), by creating work for a new audience that combines d/Deaf, hearing and CODA (child of d/Deaf adults) members, and troubles notions of ‘translation’ and ‘interpretation’ by giving equal theatrical weight to varied texts on stage.
Contribution
This research unfolds a Dramaturgical approach in order to answer the research question ‘How can an equity approach to dramatic texts serve to trouble notions of ‘translation’? In ‘Personal’ Auslan was used as a primary text rather than a secondary ‘translation’ of spoken English, mirroring the experience of performer Jodee Mundy (a CODA). English subtitles were treated in a non-literal way, their meaning becoming subverted and questioned, and multiple versions of Jodee speaking and signing were used to trouble expectations of communication. This approach was explored to challenge a diverse audience to interrogate traditional hierarchies of textual forms.
Significance
The first Creative Development of ‘Personal’ was funded by Creative Australia, Creative Victoria and the Besen Foundation and subsequently presented at a range of highly regarded venues. In 2018 Personal premiered at Arts House, Melbourne (a highly curated National venue) and was then presented at the Sydney Opera House as part of the inaugural ‘Unwrapped’ festival, followed by a tour to nine venues across regional Victoria with a final season at Darwin Festival. 2023 Tour included Brisbane Festival and venues in Victoria and NSW. Each season of the work attracted a unique audience of d/Deaf, hearing and CODA audience members.Extent
one pdf file including links
https://jodeemundy.com/projects/personal/Editor/Contributor(s)
Mundy J, Flynn M, Hinkley R, Hector J, Rose-Mundy GRecognition, awards & prizes
‘Personal’ was nominated for four Green Room Awards for Production, Writing, Direction and Design and for a Helpmann Award for Best Visual or Physical Production for the inaugural Arts House season in 2018. Personal was also presented at the Sydney Opera House as part of the inaugural ‘Unwrapped’ festival, followed by a tour to nine venues across regional Victoria with a final season at Darwin Festival. In 2023 Personal toured to various curated venues in Victoria and had a season at Brisbane Festival.Event
Brisbane FestivalPublisher
Metro ArtsPlace of publication
Brisbane, QLD.
