Pa!
Oow Eee!
So 'Louder Is Not Always Clearer' is a show about a deaf man,
that is made by a deaf man,
and it's his story, and it's a show that shares
some of the very real experiences of being deaf
in a hearing world with its audience
and that often gives people a feel of what it's like to be isolated
but also gives people an opportunity
to feel some of Jonny's difficulties in managing in a hearing world.
When I started to become an art consultant
looking to work with art organizations,
I became fascinated how I could use visual language
through I guess what you would call a theatre form or movement form
and I approached the National Theatre Wales
to see if this idea could work.
And they liked the idea
and the very first people I went to work with was Mr and Mrs Clark
because of the work they do.
it's very visual, very political, it's very striking, very groundbreaking
and thankfully they decided to come on board
to do some development work with it.
We knew that we wanted to play with silence
and we wanted to play with an unspoken language
but we also wanted to let the audience in.
So the development was how do we communicate with them clearly
but also at times make them feel isolated.
The story itself is split almost in two
so you've got the hearing world and I tend to communicate through a laptop.
I wanted the audience to come onto my journey
and that's the most important thing.
So I play with them by doing simple movements,
I tell them a story that is done through very abstract really in a way.
Then later on in the second part of the show
that almost like I've embraced into the deaf world,
I tend to start to do more non-verbal and more sign language
and I also do drawing as well
because I am an artist; that's what I am.
I also communicate through movement,
so we spent quite a lot of time doing workshops
with the deaf community all over Wales
and it was always Gareth, the only hearing person in those workshops
and it was really fascinating, there were people signing
and the question Gareth asked them was
what do you like or what don't you like about hearing people
and some of the stuff they were coming out with was
so valuable in making the show.
And it's not just my story, it's our story.
Can you hear me?
I long to meet deaf people around the world.
I long to find that connection
and I'm very...
because I was brought up in that hearing world
I grew up there, I came very late into the deaf world
and I'm still discovering that identity that I want.
I'm still trying to find my type.
I think by doing this show and working with an audience
I'm almost coming up to some kind of closure, I think.