Szepty/Whispers

​presented by Pi Provocateurs (Dec 1-4 2022)
​​produced by Rumble Theatre & Veronique West
​

In Szepty/Whispers, a neurodivergent artist probes their family's silence around mental health, sifting through traces of the past. As they grapple with the risks and possibilities of disclosure, they question how culture, migration, and trauma shape generational perspectives on disability. Through fragments of personal narrative, documentary material, and multimedia design, Szepty/Whispers attempts to connect across silence - to find kinship without a shared language.

‍Szepty/Whispers experiments with a creative approach to accessibility, embedding audio description into the performer's lines and captions into the projection design. The writer/performer is neurodivergent, mad, chronically ill, and non-binary. The creative team includes intersectional Deaf, disabled, mad, and neurodivergent artists. The project strives to centre our realities, bringing our communities together, while recognizing our diverse and sometimes contrasting needs. Inspired by artistic groups like Sins Invalid (a queer and BIPOC disabled collective), we recognize how solidarity is essential and all liberation movements are connected.
In a dark studio space, a silhouetted performer arranges human-shaped shadow puppets behind a scrim. In front of the scrim, there is a table with two chairs and a lace tablecloth.
still from video by Christian Yves Jones
In a dark studio space, a performer stands behind a table, inspecting a document. Behind them, a shadowy texture is projected onto a scrim.
still from video by Christian Yves Jones
In-Person Performance Credits:

Writer/Performer: Veronique West
Director: Jivesh Parasram
Inclusive Designer: JD Derbyshire
New Media/Projection Design Team: Chimerik似不像 Collective
New Media/Projection Designer: Caroline MacCaull
New Media/Projection Design Advisor & Mentor: Sammy Chien
Scenography Designer: Cindy Mochizuki
Sound Designer & Composer: David Mesiha
Lighting Designer: Keagan Elrick
Caption Designer: Jack Chipman
Blind Artist-Consultant: Amy Amantea
Deaf Artist-Consultant: Rei Ga-wun Leung
Dramaturg: Kathleen Flaherty
Carpentry: Minoru Yamamoto
Stage Manager: Zain Khudhur
Assistant Director: Ariel Martz-Oberlander
Producer: Christie Watson
Artist-Consultants for the Development Process: Amy Amantea, Siobhan Barker, June Fukumura, Rei Ga-wun Leung, and Marifer Douglas

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Szepty/Whispers also has a parallel digital experience, which includes an immersive website and a geolocation-based app. The website and app bring together contributions from various artists, in the form of text, audio, and ASL videos. Audiences encounter full or partial versions of each contribution, depending on the path they take through the experience. A fragmented dialogue emerges, which complicates the language of mental health by juxtaposing multiple perspectives. Ultimately, audiences can join the conversation by leaving a response.

Parallel Digital Experience Credits:

Conceptualized and curated by: Veronique West
Contributors: mia amir, Kagan Goh, Maya Jones, Constantin Lozitsky, Jivesh Parasram, Kendra Place, & Manuel Axel Strain
Inclusive Designer: JD Derbyshire
Sound designer: David Mesiha
Dramaturg: Kathleen Flaherty
Digital Platform Realization by: Cultch Digital Storytelling Team
Deaf Interpreter: Ladan Sahraei
Production Coordinators: Brian Postalian & Heather Barr
Consultants: Amy Amantea, June Fukumra, MariFer Douglas, & Simran Gill

Developed at PTC as part of the Associates Program