Writer & Performer – Jodee Mundy
Director – Merophie Carr
Set & Lighting Design – Jen Hector
Sound Design – Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey
Video Design – Rhian Hinkley
Script Dramaturg – Sandra Fiona Long
Movement Consultant – Jo Dunbar
Auslan Translation Consultant – Gavin Rose-Mundy
An uplifting multi-language exploration of life as a child of Deaf parents
It wasn’t until Jodee Mundy was five years old and lost at Kmart that she realised the rest of her family was Deaf. She didn’t see ‘disability’ – only the love and protection of those closest to her.
In Personal, she conveys her experience as the only hearing person in a Deaf family, through a captivating blend of performance, storytelling, multimedia and animation. Mundy delves into the contradictions of inhabiting two worlds: living in a Deaf family, where using sign language is natural; and living in a society that sees only the family’s disability with voyeuristic curiosity.
The role children of Deaf adults play in paving the way for their family – as interpreter, authority, conduit – is central to this very intimate story. Created with a talented team of collaborators and presented in two languages via a virtual interpreter, Personal is a smart, touching and deeply personal work exploring dis/ability and how we perceive one another.
Available to Tour
2023/2024
Artform
Theatre, Drama, Biography
Audience
Suitable for 10+
Duration
50 minutes
Venue Format
Theatre, Civic/Cultural Centre, Black Box, Studio
Bump In
2 Day bump-in, open evening day 2
Touring Party
1 performers and 2 crew (TBC)
What people are saying
★★★★★ “Personal doesn’t discriminate. Inviting deaf and hearing audiences alike. This is a notable and important example of where access is not part of the performance, access is the performance.” Arts Hub
★★★★ “Jodee Mundy’s Personal is a winning and inclusive tonic, consistently hilarious and informative.” Time Out
“Personal, aside from a triumphant piece of performance and live theatre, does something special; it bridges divides, it removes, within this context, “us” and “them”. Not often does theatre, despite the best of intentions, achieve such heights” Melbourne Critique
“This rewarding, compelling work brings deaf and hearing a little closer together both literally and through its delicate and sharp insights – crisply and clearly presented.” Stage Whispers
“This is strong autobiographical theatre with a fascinating story, and ingenious visual and sound design that implicates the senses.” The Age
Key Audiences
Key Audiences:
Lovers of biographical theatre – Jodee’s production is a multi-media feast for theatre fans, delivering an accessible and moving autobiographical narrative that is also an entertaining theatrical experience told in a very contemporary style.
Disability and those with a lived experience of Deafness, Hard of Hearing, and the CODA (child of Deaf adults) experience.
Schools and Young People 10+
Good to Know
- Multiple award nominations
- Strong education audience potential
- Community engagement potential with your local Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and CODA community members and groups.
Community Engagement
As well as the performance, Jodee is available to facilitate workshops with the local community. These can be designed for culturally and linguistically diverse, people with disabilities, and school groups.
An education kit will be created to support the tour, and made available for early distribution to potential school’s audiences.
Accessibility
Accessible to Deaf and hearing impaired audiences. Venue needs to have mobility access and provide their own audio description for visually impaired and blind audiences, although a previous audio description file exists from its premiere
Australian season.
Awards & Previous Seasons
NOMINATED FOR FOUR GREEN ROOM AWARDS
Writing, production, direction and visual design, 2019
NOMINATED FOR HELPMANN AWARD
Best Production in Visual or Physical performance, 2019
WORLD PREMIERE PRESENTED BY ARTS HOUSE
24th-29th April 2018
UNWRAPPED FESTIVAL, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
9th- 13th May 2018
REGIONAL ARTS VICTORIA TOUR
Hamilton Performing Arts Centre, 31st May 2018
The Cube, Wodonga, 5th Jun 2018
Riverside Theatre, 8th and 9th June
Lighthouse Theatre, 12th Jun 2018
Horsham Town Hall, 14th Jun 2018
Latrobe Performing Arts Centre, 26th Jun 2018
DARWIN FESTIVAL
21-26 August 2018
About Jodee Mundy
Jodee Mundy Collaborations is an independent creative producing company formed in 2012, in response to the multiple collaborations and partnerships established and continuing to develop with artists, diverse communities, organisations and funders. Artistic Director Jodee Mundy OAM is committed to producing high quality theatre works, public events, installations and artistic interventions, bringing together diverse cross sections of the community who may not regularly encounter one another. Her artistic aim is for audiences to witness works that challenge and inspire them to acknowledge: the value of live performance and communities and the ability of the art to redefine and skew the notions of inclusiveness. Jodee lives with a chronic illness and identifies as a disabled artist.
Current work includes Imagined Touch (Sydney Festival, Barbican Centre UK); The Carers Project – A Sanctuary in the City (City of Melbourne); Killing Time (Tarrawarra Musueum); and Personal (Sydney Opera House, 2018 National Tour). Previous experience includes producing and performing in Pigeonhole: A Visual Theatre Installation (White Night Melbourne); and When Claude Met Roxy – The Adult Puppet Show (Brisbane Festival, Garden of Unearthly Delights Adelaide).
Bilingual in Auslan and English Jodee is the only hearing person in her all-Deaf family. She is the recipient of the Australia Council’s Structured Mentorship in Community Partnerships in, a Melbourne Fringe Award for Innovation of Form, a Green Room Award for Innovation in Experimental Theatre for Imagined Touch in 2016, Four Green Room Award Nominations for Best Writing, Best Production, Best Direction and Best Visual Design 2019, a Helpmann Award for Best Production in Visual or Physical Performance, 2019 and an Order of Australia Medal for her service to the Performing Arts in 2020. Jodee is the founding and current director of FUSE, Darebin’s contemporary multi arts festival.
