The Pied Piper Theatre Company and Deafinitely Theatre present
CAN BEARS SKI?
Adapted for the stage by Tina Williams
UK Tour 16 November – 24 February 2023
Directed by Tina Williams and Paula Garfield
Set Design by Catherine Chapman; Composed by Julian Butler;
Movement Direction by Angela Gasparetto; Puppetry by Nick Ash
The Pied Piper Theatre Company and Deafinitely Theatre today announce a UK tour of award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus’ Can Bears Ski? in a new adaptation for the stage by Tina Williams, Artistic Director of the Pied Piper Theatre Company, who will co-direct the production with Paula Garfield, Artistic Director of Deafinitely Theatre. The story draws on the writer’s own experience as a deaf child in a hearing world with a set inspired by Polly Dunbar’s illustrations. The story is brought to life on stage with puppetry, music, British Sign Language and spoken English in a world première production for hearing and deaf young people aged 3+ and their families.
The production opens at The Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham on 18 November, and visits 86 schools across the UK, with public performances in towns and cities including Brentford, Brockenhurst, Crawley, Haverhill, Andover, Shoreham-by-Sea, Luton and Hammersmith, with further venues to be announced, as part of a 14-week tour culminating on 24 February 2024. The tour includes 19 performances for deaf schools and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities units.
Poet and author Raymond Antrobus says today: “I’m delighted that Can Bears Ski? is being adapted for the stage by deaf and hard of hearing led artists. I know it’s something the younger me would have needed to see in the world, but the story is really for everyone.”
Artistic Director of the Pied Piper Theatre Company Tina Williams says today: “Pied Piper is delighted to join with Deafinitely Theatre on a new challenge to bring fully accessible theatre to both hearing and deaf children 3+ in this ambitious tour of twelve jam packed weeks of schools, theatres, arts and community venues.”
Artistic Director of Deafinitely Theatre Paula Garfield says today: “We are very excited to collaborate with Pied Piper Theatre Company to bring Raymond Antrobus’ moving story about growing up as a deaf child in a hearing world to the stage. Productions for families and young people are an important part of the work we do at Deafinitely, as we work to increase awareness of deaf communication, culture and talent for future generations to come. As we know, nine in 10 deaf children are born to hearing families and this new production champions the power and expressiveness of British Sign Language, giving families and mixed school audiences rare access to sharing the same experience in two languages.”
Dad Bear stops and looks directly at me.
“Your friend was saying hello. Why did you ignore him?”
“I didnʼt.” I didnʼt.
Then Dad Bear asks again, “CAN BEARS SKI?”
Is that really what heʼs asking me?
Little Bear can’t hear Dad Bear calling, but feels the floor vibrate with heavy footsteps… Little Bear can’t catch the funny joke at school when friends are laughing but feels the crunch of snow on frozen pavements. Join Little Bear and Dad Bear as they learn how there are many ways to communicate love, and to find your place in the world.
Raymond Antrobus MBE FRSL was born in Hackney, London to an English mother and Jamaican father. He is the author of Shapes & Disfigurements, To Sweeten Bitter, The Perseverance and All the Names Given. In 2019 he became the first ever poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize for best work of literature in any genre. Other accolades include the Ted Hughes Award, Lucille Clifton Legacy Award, PBS Winter Choice, Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, Somerset Maugham Award and The Guardian Poetry Book of the Year 2018, as well as a shortlist for The Griffin Prize, T.S. Eliot Prize and Forward Prize. In 2018 he was awarded The Geoffrey Dearmer Prize for his poem ‘Sound Machine’ and in 2019 and 2021 his poems (‘Jamaican British’, ‘The Perseverance’ and ‘Happy Birthday Moon’) were added to the UK’s GCSE syllabus. Raymond’s debut children’s picture book Can Bears Ski? is illustrated by Polly Dunbar and was selected as an Ezra Jack Keats honouree winner in 2021, and selected for a Read For Empathy (Primary) Collection Award in 2022.
Ashcroft Arts Centre Saturday 18 November at 2pm
Watermans Sunday 26 November at 3pm
Brockenhurst Village Hall Saturday 2 December at 2.30pm
www.brockenhurstvillage.org.uk
Hawth Studio Sunday 3 December at 10.30am & 1.30pm
www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/the-hawth
Half Moon Theatre Saturday 16 December at 11am & 2pm
Haverhill Arts Centre Saturday 6 January at 11am
The Lights, Andover Saturday 20 January at 11am
Ropetackle Arts Sunday 28 January at 11am & 2.30pm
Hat Factory, Luton Saturday 3 February at 11.30am & 2pm
www.culturetrust.com/venues/hat-factory-arts-centre
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 February at 11am & 1pm
The Pied Piper Theatre Company (Patron Julie Walters) first toured in 1984 and will be celebrating 40 years of new plays for children, schools and family audiences touring in the South East, including five national tours and three Xmas seasons at The Fortune Theatre in London’s West End. Audience numbers over the 40 years have reached 500,000.
Pied Piper’s creative team includes Tina Williams, Artistic Director, Nicola Sangster, Associate Director, Julian Butler, Composer, Catherine Chapman, Designer, Angela Gasparetto, Movement Director and Nick Ash, Puppetry Director and maker.
Pied Piper tours four months of the year for children aged 3 -7 and eight months of the year for children under the age of three including babies from six months.
Pied Piper raises funding to ensure that no child misses out on high quality live theatre, regardless of their family or school’s ability to pay.
n 2002 Paula Garfield set up Deafinitely Theatre alongside Steven Webb and Kate Furby after becoming frustrated at the barriers that deaf actors and directors face in mainstream media. The company launched with a sell-out première of Deaf History at the Gate Theatre in London. In May 2012, the company performed the first ever British Sign Language Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre, Love’s Labour’s Lost, celebrating its 10-year anniversary. In 2018 Deafinitely won the Off West End Award for Best Production for its site-specific production of Mike Bartlett’s Contractions and in 2019 Paula Garfield received a Tonic Award for her energy and unwavering commitment to opening theatre up and the artistic quality of the work Deafinitely Theatre presents.
The company’s vision is a world where deaf people are a valued part of the national theatre landscape, recognised for the excellence of their work. Deafinitely Theatre is the first professional deaf-launched and led theatre company in the UK that works bilingually in British Sign Language and spoken English and produces work that caters to audiences of all ages. Deaf theatre has a vital contribution to make to the UK’s diverse and vibrant theatre landscape. Deafinitely Theatre challenges barriers to training and opportunities and embraces the deaf world’s diversity. The company work hard to nurture the next generation of deaf actors, writers and audiences through its Deafinitely Youth Theatre and Deafinitely Little productions for young people, plus its Hub training and development programme for adults. www.deafinitelytheatre.co.uk
Twitter:@DeafinitelyT Facebook:deafinitelytheatre
