Deafinitely Theatre To Showcase Work Of Bursary Recipients

Deafinitely Theatre today announce they will be showcasing the work of deaf and hard of hearing theatre freelancers that were awarded a bursary in February 2021, via their website - beginning today in celebration of UK Deaf Awareness Week 2021, Coming Through It Together. Earlier this year the recipients were awarded £1000 and provided with networking and keeping-in-touch sessions, and have been working on a wide-ranging collection of projects and career development initiatives in the past months. In addition, Deafinitely Theatre today opens applications for a further six bursaries, open to any deaf or hard of hearing theatre practitioners and performers aged 18 and over at any stage of their career.

Artistic Director Paula Garfield said, "As our industry begins to emerge from lockdown, I am so pleased that, thanks to a second Arts Council Cultural Recovery Fund grant, Deafinitely Theatre can offer a further six bursaries to support deaf freelance theatre practitioners to develop their practice as we build back to live performance. We are very excited to share the brilliant work of the first round of Bursary recipients on our website throughout May and can't wait to see the work that our future recipients are able to develop with this funding."

The recipients of the first round of bursaries were Stephanie Back, Rinkoo Barpaga, Duffy, Katie Erich, Richard France, Fifi Garfield, Ben Glover, Alim Jayda, Sahera Kahan, Ace Mahbaz, Harri Marshall, Zoë McWhinney, Colly Metcalfe, Chisato Minamimura, Julian Peedle-Calloo, Jamie Rea, Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford, Rebecca Saffir, Deepa Shastri and Otis Waby.

The first four recipients to be profiled on www.deafinitelytheatre.co.uk are:

• Stephanie Back - Stephanie has used her bursary for the research and development of a her show Fow, a tri-lingual theatre show in Welsh, BSL and English, and to further her skills in translation, presenting work online and reaching deaf audiences.
• Alim Jayda - this bursary is enabling Alim to create a new digital platform, Released Voices, which will present a series of stories and experiences from underrepresented deaf voices and minorities.
• Richard France - the bursary has enabled Richard to explore how dance can develop through sensory feeling and sonic sounds, working with a dancer and SUBPAC technology to explore an area that he hasn't worked on before, and open up opportunities to work with contemporary dancers on a new project.
• Deepa Shastri - Deepa's bursary has given her the opportunity to develop her knowledge of casting and producing (roles with very little deaf representation) through research, meetings and training and to build a plan for her professional development, including the advocacy of opportunities for deaf theatre artists and makers.

Supported by the Arts Council Culture Recovery Fund, the bursaries are open to deaf and hard of hearing theatre practitioners and performers aged 18 and over at any stage of their career. Applicants must be self-employed, not in full-time education, live in the United Kingdom and have a UK bank account.

You can apply for the second round of bursaries now. To apply please visit www.deafinitelytheatre.co.uk for further information. The deadline is Monday 31 May 2021.

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