Sound Off: national theatre festival for the deaf celebrates 10th year

Deaf performers from across Canada were in Edmonton for North America's only annual deaf theatre festival.

Canada’s national festival dedicated to the deaf performing arts celebrated its 10th year in Edmonton in partnership with the Fringe Theatre.

Sound Off brings deaf artists from across Canada to share their stories and talents through American Sign Language (ASL) on stage.

Gaitrie Persaud, actor, playwright and assistant director of the festival, said Sound Off has helped her realize her abilities as an artist.

“It’s also given me the opportunity to show my creativity and my skills on stage as the same experience with other deaf artists as well,” said Persaud with the assistance of an ASL interpreter. “It gives us the opportunity to be on a world stage and show people what we can do.”

Persaud’s play, Born Between Waves, follows Rohenee and her journey of connecting with her ancestors while grappling with her identity as a deaf Indo-Caribbean woman.

She said that when she looked into her family history, it was discovered that one of her great grandfathers was a Portuguese slave master. Another part of her family traveled from India to Guyana in search of a better life, but ended up harvesting sugar cane for others.

“It’s kind of that pull and push between those two identities that I’m investigating throughout the play,” said Persaud.

She recalled some kind words an audience member shared with her after a performance.

“I had one person come down to express that they really felt connected and they were taking away this feeling of not being alone because they have similar struggles to me,” said Persaud. “I really love when the audience comes to speak with me, I find it incredibly inspiring.”

Sound Off ran from March 3 to March 8.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti