Soonchild

During university, we were given the opportunity to see, free of charge, the production 'Soonchild' by the Red Earth Theatre Company. 'Soonchild' was about a Shaman, 16 Face John, who felt out of touch with the world. However, 16 Face John goes on a journey to retrieve the 'world songs' for his son, who was refusing to be born without hearing the songs. On this journey, 16 Face John faces fears and himself, and emerges victorious and fully himself.

The performance was a mixture of actors and puppets (large and small scale). These mixed really well and it was clear that a lot of thought was put in place about it. There was also BSL, SSE, and text during the whole of the performance, allowing it to be accessible to deaf families and audiences. This was all integrated into the performance really well, and it makes me think that, if it was done similar to this, more theatre and shows in general could be more accessible. It also made me more aware of how I can make a more conscious effort to think about accessibility.