Krazy Kat Theatre Company
Prospero in 'A Tempest'
Chris de Wilde
Sign Language Arts based in Sussex
By Kinny Gardner
Krazy Kat Theatre Company , based in Brighton, was founded in 1982 and is a professional, distinctive company with integrity, drive and ambition. Krazy Kat advocates for Deaf professionals in a myriad of ways: encouraging deaf engagement and representation.
Hearing Director Kinny Gardner has a Deaf nephew, Gavyn, and he attended the company's highly visual theatre shows that he could enjoy equally with his hearing friends. In 1999, when Brighton based Deaf actor and director, Robbie Jones, saw a Krazy Kat show, he encouraged Kinny to experiment with British Sign Language as a further visual stimulus. Both the company directors studied BSL with Stewart Bailey, at the Sussex Deaf Centre, and both achieved CACDP level 2. Kinny is now preparing for Level 3.
The company went on to create its sign language arts work with Sussex based Deaf performers and directors Sophie LaNoir, John Wilson, and the aforementioned Robbie Jones.
Other Deaf performers have included Tinca Leahy, who joined the company to develop her signing skills, having been brought up in an oral tradition. Also, Caroline Parker has contributed greatly to Krazy Kat's Deaf ethos as both director and performer since 2004.
In 2001 Mabel Davies C.B.E., Deaf Headteacher of Heathlands School for the Deaf in St. Albans, became the company's patron. She remains an inspiration and adviser to the group.
The work has been applauded by deaf children, their parents and adults in different situations – schools, community venues, arts centres and small theatres, both nationally and internationally.
Careful evaluations have been done on each show, using video recorded interviews with the children, and written assesments. Kinny has taught extensive visual theatre drama workshops in a wide range of schools for the deaf and hearing impaired units in the UK, and uses the feedback to help create new work.
In 2008 Krazy Kat recieved an Achievement Award from The DADA Festival in Liverpool for their integrated work 'Petrushka'.
In 2009 they created 'A Tempest' at Nottingham Playhouse, in a BSL translation by John Wilson. This was the first time a major UK rep theatre had invited sign language artists to create a full scale work in their building.
In 2010 the company was invited to work with the BBC on developing a new television programme for deaf children. On this Kinny collaborated with Deaf director Julian Peedle Calloo, who he knew well from working on See Hear.
Krazy Kat achieved a robust and true connection with a range of deaf audiences. The work continues to be recognised by a wide public as being rich in both symbolism and iconics.