What’s the world like without sight or sound? Over a four-year period, Jodee Mundy and Deafblind artists Heather Lawson and Michelle Stevens created Imagined Touch – a tactical, innovative and immersive shared experience through live art, theatre and sensory performance.
Audiences will participate in Imagined Touch with altered and restricted light (through goggles) and sound (through headphones), while intensified touch and tactile communication will reshape and transform their world.
Experiencing the artists’ stories and performance in a profoundly different sensory environment, participants literally meet Lawson and Stevens through an imagined touch of the senses and leave with a new awareness of the other and themselves.
Artistic Director, Jodee Mundy’s first language is Auslan and English is her second language. Mundy explains that touch is the main way that Deafblind people navigate, communicate and connect with others, “However, in a society where touch is not encouraged, Deafblind people also grapple with universal questions of isolation, access and human connection.”
It is estimated 300,000 Australians are Deafblind and with an ageing population that number is set to increase significantly over time. (source: Able Australia)
One of two known Deafblind theatre works in the world, Imagined Touch has been described as Back to Back Theatre meets James Turrell meets Teatro De Los Sentidos meets Nalagaat Theatre.
Artistic Director: Jodee Mundy Performers, Collaborators & Consultants: Heather Lawson & Michelle Stevens Performers/Interpreters: Mark Sandon, Marc Ethan, Dennis Witcombe, Georgia Knight, David Pidd & Christopher Dunn Composition & Sound Design: Madeleine Flynn & Tim Humphrey Set, Light & Visual Design: Jenny Hector Social Communications & Haptics Consultant: Dennis Witcombe Producer: Stacey Baldwin Stage Manager: Jo Leishman
Imagined Touch: the deafblind live art experience
Arts House – North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Season: 7 – 11 September 2016
Information and Bookings: www.artshouse.com.au (sold out – tickets may be available at door)
Image: Imagined Touch: the deafblind live art experience – photo by Jeff Busby