Poignant, engaging and perceptively funny, Personal is artist Jodee Mundy’s story of being CODA, which she cleverly portrays through performance, storytelling, multimedia and animation.
What’s it like to live in a Deaf family, where using sign language is natural, in a society that sees only your family’s disability with voyeuristic curiosity? One of the most poignant, engaging and perceptively funny theatre pieces we’ve discovered in a while, Personal is artist Jodee Mundy’s (OAM ) story of being CODA (child of Deaf adults). Her experience as the only hearing person in a Deaf family— something she first realised when she was lost in a Kmart as a five-year-old — is cleverly portrayed through performance, storytelling, multimedia and animation, all with a lightness of touch that’s truly captivating.
Jodee Mundy OAM is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural leader based in Melbourne. She lives with a chronic illness and identifies as an artist with an acquired disability. Bilingual in Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and English, she is the only person who hears in her all-Deaf family and is a CODA. First presented in 2018, her solo performance of Personal explores the role children of Deaf adults play in paving the way for their family – as interpreter, authority, conduit. It was created with a talented team of collaborators and is presented in two languages via a virtual interpreter.
Jodee Mundy’s Personal is a winning and inclusive tonic, consistently hilarious and informative. -Time Out
Personal, aside from a triumphant piece of performance and live theatre, does something special; it bridges divides, it removes, within this context, “us” and “them”. Not often does theatre, despite the best of intentions, achieve such heights.
-Melbourne Critique
This is a notable and important example of where access is not part of the performance, access is the performance. -Arts Hub
All shows are NZSL interpreted – bilingual English and Sign Language.
Presented By Auckland Arts Festival
Artistic Director/Writer/Performer: Jodee Mundy
Creative Team: Jen Hector, Madeleine Flynn & Tim Humphrey, Rhian Hinkley, Sandra Fiona Long, Jo Dunbar
Les and Fleur are a middle-aged couple at the end of their tether. Francis and Connie are newly-weds terrified of getting it on. They’ve double booked a romantic getaway at a kiwi bach in the middle of nowhere, but we’re not sure which is raging harder - the storm outside, or the hormones inside!
Fierce, feminist, and funny. Hysterical challenges the myth that women are too emotional with poetry that confronts body politics, sexism, and weeping in the supermarket.
A darkly humorous show by Trick of the Light Theatre, Suitcase Show unpacks secrets through puppetry, shadow play, and inventive storytelling. A clever, miniature masterpiece full of intrigue and comedy.
