Deaf Utopia: The Future of Deaf Culture and Identity
On Thursday 20th February, join us after the performance of Extraordinary Wall o̶f̶ ̶S̶i̶l̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ at HOME, Manchester for a panel discussion exploring ‘Deaf Utopia: The Future of Deaf Culture and Identity’.
We’re delighted to be joined by some wonderful guests including Nadia Nadarajah, Dr Katherine Rogers, Charlie Swinbourne and Mohamed Farah. The discussion will be chaired by one the cast David Ellington, and BSL interpreted by Kyra Pollitt and Sarah Glendenning.
Panellists
Nadia Nadarajah
Nadia Nadarajah trained at the International Visual Theatre (Paris) and then joined Deafinitely Theatre’s Creative Hub training scheme. She has experience in theatre includes: Shakespeare’s Globe As You Like It (2019), Hamlet (2018), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2014) & Love’s Labour’s Lost (2012); Bristol Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol (2018); Royal Exchange Theatre’s House of Bernarda Alba & Our Town (2017). She will be performing at Shakespeare’s Globe this Summer 2020 in the leading role of production: Antony & Cleopatra.
Dr Katherine Rogers
Dr Katherine Rogers is a NIHR Post-Doctoral Fellow and has been involved in the Social Research with Deaf people (SORD) group at the University of Manchester since 2006. Her research interests primarily involve issues pertaining to Deaf communities and their families, especially those which promote more positive outcomes. Her interests includes: politics; Deaf rights; reading books as well as going to the theatre!
Charlie Swinbourne
Charlie is an RTS award-winning writer who is currently writing for several BBC dramas. Charlie has a strong background in creating and writing comedies and dramas focusing on Deaf culture. His sketch show Deaf Funny (which he also directed) won him an RTS Yorkshire Writer award in 2018 and a Best TV Programme Award at Deaffest 2019. Among his other writing credits are award-winning half hour TV dramas My Song and Departure Lounge, plus the award-winning comedies The Kiss, Coming Out, The Fingerspellers, Four Deaf Yorkshiremen, and the UK Film Council funded short Hands Solo, which received a theatrical release. Charlie also produced and directed the Found series of documentaries, broadcast on Film4, each of which tells three deaf people’s stories of discovering sign language for the first time. Charlie has written journalism for the Guardian, BBC Online and edits the Limping Chicken blog, through which he broke the international news story of the fake interpreter at Nelson Mandela’s funeral in 2013. Charlie is currently writing new commissions for BBC3 and for Casualty.
Chair: David Ellington
David Ellington’s roles have been diverse, including film, theatre, and television drama and presenting since 1997. David has always enjoyed creative works including TV / film making projects and theatre workshop projects and also supported ALRA in running theatre course for Deaf students.
Films and TV / adverts credits under his belt are Accessible advert – The Last Leg (C4), Paralympic accessible advert (C4), Smirnoff – Deaf dancer, Small World- Episode 2 (Mutt & Jeff Pictures), Otherside / Game of a Life (Neath Films), Stand By Your Man (BBC), I’m Spaziticus – The Comedy Lab (C4), The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (BBC), Holby City (BBC)
Theatre also includes Frozen (Fingersmiths), Paralympic Opening Ceremony / The Garden / Against the Tide (Strange Fruit & Graeae), Bent / Diary of an Action Man (Graeae), Under Milk Wood (Oxfordshire Theatre Tour Company). Circus art and street theatre experience also includes Extraordinary Bodies – What Am I Worth / Weighting (Diverse City & Cirque Bijou).