Muckheap

Muckheap
(In Auslan and English). Polyglot Theatre. Director: Sue Giles. Cromwell Road Theatre, South Yarra (Vic) Mar 10, 2012. Touring Regionally.

This excellent unassuming and energetic work prompts delighted spontaneous laughter form children and adults alike.

David (David Pidd) and Jodie (Jodee Mundy) have to move house and time to pack is running out with a removalist’s truck arriving in about thirty minutes. They are having difficulty sorting things out and deciding what to take and what to throw away, partly due to reluctance to move and partly due to Jodie’s subversive cheeky irreverence. 

This update of Muckheap has been developed with students at Furlong Park Primary School for the Deaf. It very holistically incorporates Auslan (Australian Sign Language). In fact Jodee could just as easily be mistaken for a deaf person.

This charming show creeps up on the audience as it brings together a number of visual treats, archetypal and contemporary, that are simply created, exhibited with aplomb and extremely affectively integrated. 

The variation in tempo, numerous activities and multiplicity of ideas presented, has the capacity to keep the attention of the smallest child to the most sophisticated adult.

It is easy to see why this highly transportable homely work has experienced significant longevity and is being given a new lease of life with the incorporation of Auslan for Regional and International tours.

I would be booking it if I was a Cultural Services Officer – because it is a great show and because of the importance of demystifying and affirming Deaf culture.

Suzanne Sandow

Pictured: Jacob Williams and Justine Warner (from a previous cast).

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