★ ★ ★ ★
Craig McCulloch is exceptional as the MC for a deaf cabaret that showcases diverse and brilliant deaf talent. A cabaret by deaf creatives for a deaf audience.
My Mother’s Spices, the first of two pieces by Nadia Nadarajah, detailed the making of a curry, with such detail and cultural nuance, I felt this is something that could only be told through sign.
A dancer entertained with Voguing (I never knew the sign for Madonna, was a reference to her cone-bra) and then another act serenaded with traditional Scots Gaelic.
Amy Murray’s brilliant monologue ‘My Angry Vagina’, raised the roof, whilst also cleverly dismantling the painful and patriarchal invasiveness of gynaecology. BSL comic timing is a real thing and Murray is excellent at it.
I learnt about Visual Vernacular, a detailed form of sign, delivered in a poem Rush Hour. But it was the brilliant satire on the hearing community that I loved most. Set up as an interview with ‘Connor: The Scottish Icon’, this arrogant hearing superstar (played by Connor Bryson) tries to patronise the deaf audience with his poor BSL and general ignorance. There was something so enlightening to see a deaf audience laugh in recognition at the hearing communities lack of understanding, it was a brilliant way to laugh at those who often exclude the deaf community.
Of course, this brilliant hour of cabaret was over all too soon, ending three sell-out nights at Deaf Action. It was a celebration of deaf talent that delivered, and we hope It’ll become a staple of future fringes. The Edinburgh Deaf Festival has shown it programmes work of the highest calibre.
As a hearing audience member I was able to access the cabaret through a vocal interpreter, and it gave me a first-hand experience at how essential access is. BSL users are rightly frustrated at the lack of access at The Edinburgh Fringe. I am grateful that Spill Your Drink included me. The hearing community need to be much more inclusive, we need to do better.
[This review is written by someone from the hearing community. We understand our privilege creates a bias in our writing, we always seek to include reviews by the community for the community, and would welcome reviews from the deaf community.]
