Stan

Stan, is a new play for children which explores communication, friendship, identity, the family unit… and dinosaurs.

Named after the T-Rex at the Manchester Museum, Stan tells the story of a blossoming friendship between a boy who is struggling to cope with the departure of his father, and a deaf girl. As the pair bond over their shared love of dinosaurs and learn to communicate, she leads him into a playful imaginative world, which helps him deal with the change in his family.

Written by Sarah Emmott, Stan is a bilingual production performed in English and British Sign Language (BSL). Stan positively demonstrates how we can overcome language barriers, and challenges preconceptions of deafness, presenting a strong deaf character in a lead role.

Stan looks at personal ability, growth and the power of play, and gives children space to explore their feelings during parental separation and change.

Participation

Workshop and Education Pack

Art with Heart will provide a post-performance workshop to help children unpack the themes in Stan. The workshop will help to build children’s emotional resilience and language. It will give vital space for children to explore their own situations, safely through the fiction of the characters. Education Packs with lesson plans will support teachers to further explore the themes.

Audience Access

We want our hearing and BSL using audiences to have the same experience so we fully translate our work from English to BSL and work with our interpreter closely in rehearsals. We are currently experimenting with creative captioning and are looking for dynamic and exciting ways to make our work more accessible.

Creative Team (2018 & 2019 R&D)

With thanks to the following creatives who have helped in the research and development of Stan so far:

Jonathan McGrath, Gemma Green, Alexandra James, Ross Thompson, Rachel Moffatt-Feldman, Irene Jade, Adam Eastwood, Deborah Pugh, Dan Steele, Stephen Collins, Triple Dot, Alex Willy, Vilma Jackson, Rebecca Kenny and Kristian Wall.

With Thanks

Stan has been developed with The Lowry and Genie Networks. With support from Arts Council England, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Backstage Trust.