Szepty/Whispers

in development with Playwrights Theatre Centre (2017-2021)
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In "Szepty/Whispers", an artist probes their immigrant mother's silence around mental health, seeking words for their own experiences. As they sift through traces of the past, they grapple with the afterlife of violence, the untranslatability of culture, and the politics of memory. Through a fractured accumulation of personal narrative, multimedia design, integrated captions, and embedded audio description, the performance searches for disability kinship across generational fault-lines.

"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.

In-Person Performance Credits:

Writer/Performer: Veronique West
Director: Jivesh Parasram
Inclusive Designer: JD Derbyshire
Scenography Designer: Cindy Mochizuki
Sound Designer: David Mesiha
New Media/Projection Design Team: Chimerik似不像 Collective
New Media/Projection Designer: Caroline MacCaull
New Media/Projection Design Advisor & Mentor: Sammy Chien
Lighting Designer: Keagan Elrick
Dramaturg: Kathleen Flaherty
Production Coordinator (2021 Workshop): Heather Barr
Deaf Interpreter (2021 Workshop): Ladan Sahraei
ASL Interpreters (2021 Workshop): Sara-Lee Salterio & Melanie Valencia
Carpentry: Minoru Yamamoto
Consultants: Amy Amantea, Siobhan Barker, June Fukumura, Rei Ga-wun Leung, and Marifer Douglas

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
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 a dark studio space, a performer sits under a table, speaking into a microphone. They are lit by a warm glow. A lace curtain hangs in front of the table.
still from video by Christian Yves Jones