Lip reading and emotive interpreters: How the show goes on at Sick and Twisted Theatre

It's not about empowerment. It's about the art.

That's the philosophy behind Sick and Twisted Theatre, the Winnipeg disability theatre company.

Just ask Debbie Patterson, the company's artistic director, who was also a performer in their latest production, Antigone, which ended its run in late November.

"There seems to be an attitude that because the performers in this show are disabled, that they're doing the work for their own benefit and not for the benefit of the audience," said Patterson, who is in a wheelchair.

With two hard of hearing actorsand one partly blind, plus Pattersonand another actor with an invisible disability, the most recent production was an exercise in collaboration and adaptability.

That exerciseand the tricks to pulling off Antigone with hard of hearingactors and their interpreteris the focus of anew short video, Sick and Twisted Theatre:A Look Behind the Stage. The video is the work of Beryl Constantini, Gino Villaceranand Mark Mariano, three filmmaking students from Sisler Create who worked incollaboration with CBC Manitoba's Creator Network.

Meet the filmmakers

More about Project POV: Sisler Create

CBC Manitoba's Project POV: SislerCreate is a new storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBC journalists to produce short videos.

During fall 2022, CBC journalists led storytelling and producing workshops over several weeks with filmmaking students at theCreate program at Sisler High School. The program focuses on education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.