EQUAL VOICES ARTS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Director
• Musical Director / Composer / Filmmaker

Andy is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. He produces music for a wide range of media and has written and performed for many live theatre and dance shows. His music has been featured on several TV and Radio shows. He wrote the theme tune and sonic branding for the hit TV show The Gadget Show and has written for two films including the award winning feature Lad: A Yorkshire Story. Andy played guitar and keyboards with the Pigeon Detectives for 3 years and has toured with many bands and played at major venues including Manchester Evening News Arena and Hammersmith Apollo. He has played the Main stage at Reading and Leeds and several other major festivals. As musical director Andy has composed and performed for Equal Voices Arts, Full Body and The Voice & Chol Theatre, and has composed for final year theatre productions for many university theatre and drama courses, including Edge Hill University, Leeds University and The University of Waikato in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand. He has taught and led workshops at Edge Hill University, Leeds University and The University of Waikato in New Zealand.

Job Titles:

• Producer

Cian Parker (Ngāpuhi) is an award-winning performer, writer, theatre maker, performer and producer. After graduating from the University of Waikato in 2018, she has gained professional experience in theatre, while also touring her own original work. Her multiple awards include the Ngā Manu Pīrere award at the Creative New Zealand 2019 Te Waka Toi Awards. In 2020, she was awarded ‘Most Promising Emerging Artist' at the New Zealand Fringe Awards. She is also one of The Arts Foundation's 2021 Springboard Award recipients. And at the 2021 Wellington Theatre awards she received the ‘New Playwright Award'. Most recently she was an actor and co-deviser in the Equal Voices Arts show ‘Where Our Shadows Meet', and has worked alongside choreographer Eddie Elliott as a co-writer and dramaturg for the dance theatre piece show ‘Waiwhakaata: Reflections in the Water'. In 2022 she was one of the Q Theatre residents where she began exploring her new work which was inspired by the community she grew up in, Melville. In November last year, Cian attended an international residency with Frantic Assembly in London, UK. She will also be touring a work she co-created with Laura Haughey ‘All I See' to the Northern Ballet in Leeds United Kingdom, and at the National Theatre of Serbia in Belgrade in June 2023. Cian is currently working as the producer for Equal Voices Arts, working alongside the team to support and create more equity, awareness and opportunity for Deaf people throughout the arts industry.

Job Titles:

• Associate Artist / Research Associate

Denise is a professional performer, director and choreographer specialising in Sign Theatre. Denise's career has spanned almost 4 decades and she has trained, performed and made work all over the world. Denise trained in and studied Theatre of the Deaf (theatre in education, drama in education, sign theatre, film) at Bulmershe court, Reading University. She has trained with world well- known dancers and choreographers including Carlos Orta in Austria and Venezuela. Denise has also trained at the Trinity LABAN, London (Education in Community Dance), the London Contemporary Dance School (The Place), and Tanz Dance Course (Intensive), Berlin. Denise was artistic director for Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre (UK) in 2002, which she led after 10 years working with the company as a physical theatre performer, dancer and choreographer. The company was commissioned and funded by Art Council England. During her time as artistic director, Denise supported and mentored many Deaf and hearing performers; she has collaborated with theatre and dance companies from all over the world. Denise has performed in many touring repertoire in Europe and internationally, most recently starring in ‘Unsung', which was performed at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool (an Unlimited Commission). She has also led workshops in conservatoires, universities and in community contexts internationally. Denise has worked as a regular freelancer since 2000 for ITV, ‘Signpost' as a screen Interpreter and story teller for children books, translating well know selected children books and programmes to enable Deaf children to access stories through British Sign Language via the Signpost Website. Deaf from birth, Denise is a native British Sign Language user and is thrilled to be back in Aotearoa New Zealand as a research associate working as part of the international team alongside Dr Laura Haughey, Rachel Turner and Thora Huebner on an international research project designing and developing an accessible mindfulness based performance training practice for Deaf and hearing artists.

Job Titles:

• Artistic Director

Laura started her theatre career aged 17, touring in the UK and Europe with a Deaf - led dance theatre company, performing on international stages in both British Sign Language and English. She combined her theatre and dance work with a physiotherapy degree and a year of specialised anatomy training to enhance her understanding of the body. Her PhD found the site where the two passions of arts and science were combined in the field of psychophysical performance training. In her work, Laura loves examining how we communicate through the body, and finding new creative possibilities working across languages and cultures. She is interested in how embracing diversity can impact positively on creative approach. Her research interests are in working across languages and cultures, inclusive theatre practice and neuroscience. Laura has taught internationally, in conservatoires, drama schools and universities, and is now based in Aotearoa New Zealand convening the Theatre Studies programme at the University of Waikato. Since arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand, Laura has directed and devised three large scale original theatre productions for Equal Voices Arts, working with Deaf and hearing actors. At The End Of My Hands toured across New Zealand in 2016, and Salonica toured internationally to prestigious theatres such as the National Theatre in Belgrade in 2017, then in New Zealand in 2018. Where Our Shadows Meet premiered in 2021 and toured in February 2022, starting with a season at Circa Theatre. Laura was awarded with the inaugural ‘NZSL in Arts' award for her work establishing Equal Voices Arts, which was presented at Parliament in Aotearoa New Zealand in May 2018. Alongside her work with Equal Voices Arts, Laura was also director and dramaturg on the multi-award winning production Sorry For Your Loss, where she teamed up with writer and performer Cian Parker, which has toured prolifically across Aotearoa New Zealand between 2018 - 2021, including a season at Circa Theatre, Wellington, Auckland Arts Festival, Matariki Festival at Auckland Live and at the Meteor in Hamilton. Laura worked alongside Equal Voices Arts' NZSL Creative Consultant Rachel Turner to produce a sign interpreted version of the piece where the interpreter shares the stage with performer Cian Parker, increasing visual access for Deaf audiences.

Job Titles:

• Director Bill Hopkinson

Job Titles:

• Producer / Administration / Artist Liaison

Kayte is our hearing producer and has been working with the Equal Voices Arts team in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2014. She works closely alongside Rachel with managing the motley crew of artists, sorting all planning, logistics and budgets, applying for grants, and helping to develop strategic planning for the company as it moves ahead to the next stages of our work in Aotearoa New Zealand. In a previous life, Kayte studied in Australia to become a qualified Teacher of the Deaf and taught in a School for the Deaf in Melbourne before moving to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2010. Kayte has a Graduate Diploma of Education (Primary), Master of Education (Language Intervention / Deaf studies) and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Disability Studies). She also worked closely with the Waikato Deaf community on a 3yr funded Community Development project from 2014 - 2018. When Kayte isn't saving the day on one of our projects, she is running around after her 2 young children and is a resource teacher in the Waikato, supporting teachers and staff to ensure students with varied needs are accessing their education in the best possible way.

Rāhera leads the company's Deaf Awareness workshop programme, teaching artists, arts organisations and theatres about Deaf culture, Deaf world view, and teaching NZSL. She is a qualified NZSL tutor and brings her warmth, openness and language and cultural expertise to these sessions. These workshops can support your organisation to be better placed to welcome Deaf patrons. Contact us to book a workshop for your team. Rāhera has lectured at Universities in Aotearoa and overseas about Equal Voices Arts' approach to making original bicultural and bilingual theatre work and has appeared on international video podcasts discussing access and inclusion. Rāhera also consults with government organisations and arts organisations about how to make funding opportunities and events more accessible for D/deaf communities. In addition to serving several terms on the NZSL Board, Rāhera has also served as project co-ordinator for Teach Sign (adapted for Māori Deaf and Te Reo settings, and she is the Facilitator for Rōpū Kaitiaki (the Māori Deaf Advisory Group).

Job Titles:

• Actor / Devisor / Artist / Illustrator / Workshop Facilitator

Equal Voices Arts were devastated to lose our beloved Shaun after he became ill very quickly with an un expectedly advanced cancer diagnosis. Before this time, Shaun was an artist of many media: an illustrator, storyteller, painter and graphic designer. He had performed in Deaf short films in Aotearoa New Zealand, winning best actor at the NZDSSF in 2013. He was an award winning NZSL storyteller, having performed all over New Zealand, winning awards in 1994, 2006 and 20011. Shaun appeared professionally on the stage for the first time in 2015 in Equal Voices Art's ground breaking, award winning show At the End of My Hands which was performed in both New Zealand Sign Language and English. He wowed audiences with his performances and following that, he was featured on TV in Aotearoa New Zealand. Shaun went on to perform in the next Equal Voices Arts performance ‘Salonica'. Salonica was commissioned to go away on European Tour first, starting in the UK, then Serbia, then Montenegro, then home to Aotearoa New Zealand to start a nationwide tour there. A highlight of the European tour was performing at the National Theatre of Belgrade in Serbia to a full house. This show marked the first time a professional Deaf actor performed in his first language - NZSL, and the first time a performance was accessible to both Deaf and hearing communities, who came out in force in support. We miss Shaun greatly, but his legacy inspires our work each and every day, and he is still with us on our journey onwards.

Thora is a highly skilled Deaf interpreter and a lecturer in NZSL at AUT. She also works as an NZSL Senior Tutor in Specialist Teaching of Deaf and Hard of Hearing at the University of Canterbury. Her first language is German Sign Language and she is fluent in NZSL. Thora is passionate about raising the profile of NZSL and Deaf culture. Thora began working with Equal Voices Arts in 2019 at their Aotearoa Sign Theatre Masterclass for Deaf participants and quickly demonstrated great talent. She has been training with the company ever since. Thora is now excited to be part of their next original dance theatre production 'Where Our Shadows Meet', and Equal Voices Arts are so privileged to work with her!