Stage, screen and being seen

Join us for a night of storytelling! Yarn Night is an online, spoken word night for us to share experiences and hear the voices of the #HoH and #D/deaf community. Tickets are available here https://www.eventbrite.es/e/yarn-night-tickets-151150413957

On the first Thursday of each month, we come together to hear the stories of the #HoH and #D/deaf community.

The night kicks off with an introduction from Soundfair, after which we give the floor to our four storytellers, who will share their personal stories relating to the night’s theme. After the stories, audience and speakers will have the chance to have a conversation to share thoughts, ideas, and questions.

On Thursday 2 September, we have the pleasure of hosting the following storytellers:

  1. Marcus Van Altena

Marcus has a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Making at SAE Institute Sydney, where he received Distinctions and High Distinctions for his work. Whilst studying, he wrote ‘Hear Me Out’, a documentary based on the true life events of Sue Walters, Bill Gibson and Jackson Tait. The narrative explains how Sue and Jackson came to have Cochlear Implants. They recount some life stories and share some enlightening advice.

  1. Grace Mezak

Grace Mezak is a 23 year old actor, singer, musician, and writer with tinnitus. She has recently graduated from Adelaide College of the Arts with a passion for musical theatre as well as acting on screen and stage. Grace has had tinnitus for as long as she can remember and is an advocate for more awareness around the condition.

  1. Peter Levy

Peter is an Australian writer living with hearing loss. He started writing songs from an early age, including 17 documentary soundtracks, from which the most notable is Jon Noble’s ‘Tread Lightly on the Land’. Peter has also written three novels, six feature film scripts, and three plays. In 2008, he was awarded life membership of the Australian Cinema Pioneers. And in 2017, he founded the Bayside Writers’ Group to assist writers in getting published.

  1. Olivia Beasley

Olivia is a passionate young deaf woman based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her focus is creating social change in entertainment arts by promoting inclusion opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing entertainers. Her specialised area in entertainment is theatrical and film acting. She brings great knowledge in creating inclusive space for Auslan users and passion in advocacy for social equity. Olivia will discuss the importance of authentic representation and production process with Deaf & Auslan user actors.

The event is held online and lasts an hour and a half. Live captioning and Auslan interpretation are provided.

All funds raised will support Soundfair’s hearing equality programs.