The audience has a great opportunity to look, listen and learn about the lifetime, language, history and culture of Deaf and Deafblind people, thanks to a well-produced performance that entertains, educates and engages. We learn the meaning of Pah! = success!
This is not the first edition of the work by Peter Blockey, which may have also appeared in a curated context: for FRINGE WORLD, it is a quality example of artistic inclusion.
The two titular protagonists, joined by three other performers, tell their own stories, alternating with musical numbers. Carefully choreographed steps allow the Deafblind to blend in successfully, songs are regularly and explicitly credited, with meaningful lyrics also shown* in Auslan (Australian sign language). Interpreting is provided throughout, and the audience soon joins in the Deaf applause = stomping of feet and waving/moving flat hands in mid-air.
The episodes go from the first diagnosis of the baby (a doll), in a time and place where the recommended option is called “cued speech”, to the first session with the child ( Peter on his knees, eliciting amused delight) and later Peter's discovery of Deaf signing culture.
Another source of visual fun is the mullet style of wigs that Peter and his friend Eddie wear for the period when the young men deal with driving tests and practice. All along, several ways to facilitate Deaf communication, interaction and integration in everyday life are mentioned, explained or simply included a part of the context – guess which ones?
There is a dramatic twist when blindness comes on, and the role of the support person becomes part of the acting. Later comes a detailed personal introduction of all the five performers, deepening the rapport with the audience. The last number is of immediate relevance to the news this season: the impact of a noisy storm, that ruins the sleep of hearing people but does not ruffle the Deaf. This is also how Peter's parents noticed, at the start of the lifetime cycle.
Deafinitely to be applauded, with stomp and wave!