DEAF CABARET
Presented by DEAF SPIRIT THEATRE
Part of SOUND OFF Deaf Theatre Festival,
in association with Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre
Deaf Spirit Theatre returns to SOUND OFF with a brand new show, Deaf Cabaret! Featuring members of Ontario’s signed music group Dancing Hands, the show combines comedy, signed music, puppetry, ASL storytelling and ASL poetry to create a delight for all ages! Presented in ASL and voice interpreting, along with English subtitles.
*ASL/English accessible
VENUE
Studio Theatre at ATB Financial Arts Barns
10330 84 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB
RUNNING TIME RATING
60 minutes PG
PERFORMANCE DATES
Wednesday, February 12 at 8:30 PM
Thursday, February 13 at 1 PM
Saturday, February 15 at 7 PM
Sunday, February 16 at 5 PM
CURATORIAL STATEMENT FROm SOUND OFF’S CURATOR, CHRIS DODD
For our 4th year running, SOUND OFF brings you Deaf artists from across Canada for a theatre extravaganza that is unique within North America. As always, we make our art form accessible for all audiences to allow everyone to participate in SOUND OFF’s plays, readings, and workshops equally and to marvel in the stories and talents of our artists. And to show we don’t take ourselves too seriously, this year is all about the laughs! We have a stellar lineup of comedy shows including The Two Natashas from Toronto, the return of Deaf Spirit Theatre from Kingston for the all-ages Deaf Cabaret, the whodunit mystery of Deafies’ Unique Time from Toronto with Deaf Detective Agency, and Canada’s famous Deaf mime comedy troupe from Winnipeg, 100 Decibels, returns with Deaflix and Chill! Also featuring a special appearance by Regina’s Deaf Crows with 1000 Ladders Down. And not to forget, our hilarious improv collaboration with Rapid Fire Theatre returns with Theatresports: SOUND OFF Edition! Are you ready for it?
Chris Dodd
Curator, SOUND OFF Deaf Theatre Festival
In association with Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre, SOUND OFF is Canada’s national festival for the Deaf performing arts, celebrating Deaf performers from across the country, their talents and stories, and the beauty of American Sign Language on stage.
SOUND OFF is dedicated to making theatre accessible for both Deaf and hearing audiences and celebrating the stories and talents of Deaf performers from across Canada.
Meet the Team of Deaf Cabaret
Elizabeth Morris is a Deaf actor (ACTRA and CAEA). She lived in England, Japan, USA (Ohio), and Canada (Ontario). She was a part of two Deaf theatre tour companies in USA; Quest for Arts & National Theatre of the Deaf. In 2015, She co-founded Deaf Spirit Theatre. Since 2017, they had been involved with Sound Off Festival. Recently, she performed in Citadel Theatre’s The Tempest and played the lead in Concrete Theatre’s Songs that My Mother Never Sung Me. Besides an actor, she is also a Deaf Community consultant, Deaf Interpreter and ASL coach for theatre and films. She has a Master’s degree in Inclusive Design; focusing on creating live theatre to be more accessible and inclusive for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, including their families and friends.
ELIZABETH MORRIS PERFORMER
Robert Bhola is hard of hearing, raised in a Deaf family and raising a Deaf family. He has been involved with the Ottawa Deaf Centre and Ottawa Deaf Sports Club in the past. He has also taught Sign Language for several years in Ontario at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Loyalist College in Belleville, and the Canadian Hearing Society. Currently he has a degree as a Child and Youth Worker and is a Residential Support Counsellor at Sir James Whitney. This year he is pursuing his passion for the Arts by expressing his creative perspective of a variety of songs in Sign Language.
ROBERT BHOLA
PERFORMER
Hayley Hudson is a Deaf Actor and Dancer, originally from Coaldale, Alberta. Currently, she is living in Kingston, Ontario. Growing up in musical family and having a Grandfather loving to recite Poetry is where she got her passion for performing from. Growing up, she always wanted to perform. Taking a drama course in junior high school was when she realized that she wanted to be an actor. She danced for 8 years and won several awards in Dance Competition. She graduated from theatre school in Rosebud, Alberta. She had been in several community theatre productions, which allowed her to perform in American Sign Language (ASL). She moved to Ontario, to pursue her dream in becoming an actor. Hayley has been in The Tempest at The Citadel Theatre as Ariel with Deaf and Hearing actors. She is thrilled to direct this production for SOUND OFF and appear somewhere in the show, hope you find me. Enjoy the show. Will see you next year hopefully. She currently lives in Kingston with her husband, her three kids and two cats.
HAYLEY HUDSON PERFORMER/DIRECTOR
Alexandra Hickox is an emerging artist who works in photography and videos. Currently, she is in her third year in Master’s program of film production at York University in Toronto, Ontario. In 2014, she graduated at Ontario College Arts and Design University, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography and integrated media minor. Her experiences with technical programs for film production, include After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and stop motion capture. She has some experiences with using a variety of digital cameras. She worked with a Bolex camera, including hand development. She is currently working on creating videos for Deaf Spirit Theatre’s production, as well as their stage manager. Alexandra’s thesis is based on creating a short film about Deaf people’s culture and language. She is a member of the SuroalGals filmmaking collective, creating works about issues of Deaf cultures. In the summer of 2012, she worked with John Greyson, on Jericho/Baghdad as his set photographer’s assistant. She is enjoying her experiences with new things and working in a variety kind of environments. She is still developing more skills in filming and photography.
ALEXANDRA HICKOX
DESIGNER / STAGE MANAGER
Theresa Upton is a Deaf actor, playwright, and co-founder of Deaf Spirit Theatre in Kingston, Ontario. She is also a poet, creative writer, and storyteller. She is originally from Saint John, New Brunswick. She grew up in a musical family. She had participated in school’s productions. She was the only Deaf person in her large family, who resided in rural of New Brunswick. In 1980, she moved to Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf in Belleville, Ontario. Since 1985, she lives in Kingston, Ontario. She is the mother of two adults and a grandmother of a toddler. Theresa had been teaching ASL for nearly 30 years; in private sessions, public education system, college, and university. She is also an artist who creates a range of ASL stories, ASL poetry/poems, translating songs/children’s books into ASL. In 2019, Theresa went with a group of researchers to Edmonton to do a research project on the Citadel Theatre’s production of The Tempest. Theresa is also a Direct Support Worker with Community Living Kingston. She acts as a Deaf interpreter and facilitator for intellectually and dual diagnosis clients.
THERESA UPTON, PERFORMER
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