A night of poetry and music with performances from some of the country's leading D/deaf artists. On 16th October, we will bring the D/deaf and hearing communities together under one roof to show off, watch and enjoy some amazing talent. We have spoken word, dance, poetry and rap – all will be signed (BSL) and spoken/sung/rapped simultaneously. We will also have comedienne and sign-singer extraordinaire Caroline Parker MBE giving us something truly special.
Our host - Nadeem Islam
Nadeem Islam trained in Community Art Practice at BRIT School before graduating in 2015.
He is known for his work in comedy improv and TV Presenting as seen in programs such as Small World with Mutt & Jeff and See Hear Tour with BBC See Hear. Nadeem was nominated for Best Actor by Deaffest UK Deaf Film/TV award for his performance in Where I Belong. He was recently nominated for his work on See Hear by RTS Awards for On Screen Talent.
His recent stage experience includes Blasted with Graeae/RADA, Horrible Histories - Dreadful Deaf at the Bristol Old Vic and, most recently, The Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist for Ramps on the Moon.
Watch Druv's Magical Land by Santoshi Bobby Mann retold in British Sign Language by Nadeem Islam
Signkid
The UK’s first and only deaf music producer, writer, and performer to have pioneered and developed a unique aesthetic by integrating and adapting British Sign Language (BSL) into a visually based language suited specifically for live Hip-Hop, Rap, and Urban music performance. He has subsequently evolved this approach into music video production by simultaneously overlaying a hearing rapper onto his distinctive BSL performance.
SignKid has performed at festivals including Deaf Rave, Wireless, Fabric, Boomtown and Latitude, and has had BBC Breakfast, Liberty BBC News, and BBC radio coverage. He was recently nominated twice for a ‘ Best Artistic Short Film’ award at Wolverhampton Deaffest. Dumbass was nominated for Deaf Shorts Award at Encounters Film Festival in September 2019.
This video is an artistic short film exploring the history of the word dumb and how it has marginalised deaf people. Dumbass is also being nominated at Glasgow Short Film Festival 2020.
Raymond Antrobus
Raymond Antrobus is a British-Jamaican poet and author of The Perseverance. In 2019 he was a recipient of the Ted Hughes Award and won the Sunday Times/University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award, and became the first poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize.
His work has been widely published in many literary magazines, journals and other outlets, among them BBC 2, BBC Radio 4, Poetry Review, The New Statesman, POETRY magazine, The Rialto, Magma Poetry, Shooter Literary Journal, The Missing Slate, Media Diversified, The Deaf Poets Society, The Big Issue, The Jamaica Gleaner and The Guardian. In 2019 he headlined the London Book Fair as "Poet of the Fair". He will be performing some poems from his collection The Perseverance.
Caroline Parker MBE
Caroline Parker actress, comedienne, cabaret performer has been signing songs such as Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody her unique way since the last millennium at such places as Glastonbury and WOMAD. She also signed the finale song of the 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony. Watch Caroline’s TEDxEastEnd singing without my voice here.
Chris Fonseca and Harry Jardine
To finish the evening the duo will perform their brand new project 'Follow The SIgns'. This is a world exclusive as it will be the first time performing it live. Chris and Harry met doing a show in 2019. Both from South London, they became friends immediately and Chris started teaching Harry British Sign Language.
Before the 6 month tour was over, Chris and Harry had already started creating this piece. 'Follow The Signs' is a 10 minute story told through the medium of hip hop. Chris uses BSL to tell the story whilst Harry raps what Chris is signing. It is a story about overcoming obstacles, defeating the odds and finding your identity. You may recognise Chris Fonseca from his incredible performances on the BBC's The Greatest Dancer.
Performance Info - We’re Keeping Things Safe!
To keep us all as safe as possible, we are encouraging the use of face coverings when in the theatre and everyone will be seated in pods of two. Please book additional pods if your group is a mixture of households or bubbles. Full audience guidelines will be sent out to all ticket holders closer to the show. Our COVID-19 precautions can be found above.
1 Seated Pod = 2 people from the same household or bubble
Date: Friday 16th October 2020
Times: Doors at 7.00 pm, Show at 7.30 pm - Please arrive in plenty of time so we can seat and serve you your drinks
Please e-mail us ahead of the show to ensure we are aware of and can facilitate any access needs
A performance as part of our South London Music Festival, supported by Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants .
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