Dignity

"Leave your mind free to follow my words", Deevy’s 1939 play, invites us to follow her to an unseen world. In Dignity, we invite you to experience another invisible world, as you follow our bodies as they reveal what happened out of sight, learning to fit into the world of sound.

We, as Deevy, had to ‘listen differently’. We watch and sign – resilient and rebellious – and leave your mind free to follow our visual world, growing increasingly captivated by her work and its transformation into ISL.

Performed in Irish Sign Language, this production brings professional and community artists together to champion the choreographic power of Sign Language. The company has previously presented Ode to Joy and Possession at Cork Midsummer Festival. For Coogan, one of Ireland’s foremost performance artists, Sign Language is a touchstone. Born hearing to deaf parents, this visual and manual upbringing deeply informs her practice. She explores contested sites and minority narratives, distilling these into urgent contemporary performances.

These works stand at the forefront of some of the most exciting collaborative performances with marginalised communities.

Funded by the Arts Council, Cork City Council Artist and the Community Award and Dublin City Council.