The National Theatre will host In Touch, a series of real stories of people who are deafblind, blind, visually impaired, D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, sighted and hearing, told through an eclectic style of spoken, signed and physical theatre.
Part of a long-term project between Inclusion Theatre Company and the Theatre of Nations, using the arts to connect people who are deafblind, sighted and hearing in different spaces, In Touch will play in the Dorfman Theatre on Saturday 14 October at 5pm and 8pm.
The show explores the emotional rollercoaster of being human, how we each navigate our lives and what happens when different worlds collide and unite.
The original production, Touch-Ables, based on the real stories of the actors and their interactions with the world and the diaries of two women that are deafblind from 20th Century Russia, had its premiere in 2015 in Russia. The show was shown on leading stages in Moscow and St Petersburg, and was nominated for the prestigious Russian ‘Golden Mask’ Theatre Award.
Viktoria Avdeeva, Producer of Touch-Ables, said: “The original play Touch-ables was created to raise awareness in Russia about people who are deafblind. Deafblind people are some of the least visible and least involved in professional and cultural activity, not just in Russia but everywhere.”
“The production not only was an opportunity for actors that are deafblind to tell their story, it influenced the development of inclusive theatre in Russia for the better. I am excited to bring this production to the UK, further exploring the very nature of communication, through and beyond different cultures and languages.”
For this staging at the NT, Artistic Director of Graeae Theatre Company, Jenny Sealey, will work with the company to develop the original production with actors who have sensory impairments from the original Russian show, plus British and French performers who are deafblind, sighted and hearing.
The cast includes Rustam Ahmadeev, Zara-Jayne Arnold, Arnaud Balard, Kirill Byrkin, Raji Gopalakrishnan, Alexey Gorelov, Roman Evdokimov, Alyona Kapustyan, Yuliya Khamitova, Olga Lapshina, Sophie Lebedeva, Vera Lyzhenkova, Irina Povolotskaya, Alexandra Rudik, Ekaterina Sakhno, Alexandr Silyanov, with reading by Evgeny Mironov.
For more information and to book your tickets, visit the National Theatre’s website.