Show, don’t tell: Deaf Calgary stage performance champions movement, not words

A new deaf-led stage production in Calgary is challenging how stories are told on stage and who they are told for.

A Deaf-led theatre production opening in Calgary is taking a different avenue for its performance, using no sound in its message to audiences.

A World Without Them, co-created by Deaf artist Landon Krentz and director Eric Rose in partnership with Ghost River Theatre, uses movement and visual storytelling to explore extinction in all its forms, from vanished species to threatened languages and cultures.

The visually driven performance moves through a series of vignettes that begin with the great dinosaur extinction before flowing through animals that have disappeared more recently and others now approaching extinction.

The show avoids spoken dialogue and sign language entirely, relying instead on physical theatre and visual vernacular — a Deaf performance tradition built on precise movement, facial expression and visual rhythm.

“The concept of this performance is about extinction, and when we think about extinction, we often don’t think about extinction as part of our daily life,” Krentz said.

“It’s one of those things that’s almost taken for granted that it happens in the world.”

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Krentz said the production also invites audiences to consider extinction beyond the natural world, including the erosion of languages, cultures and access to communication.

He said signed languages, including American Sign Language, were historically suppressed through social and institutional pressures, leaving lasting barriers that continue to shape Deaf access to education, culture and public life.

“One of the largest barriers is accessible theater,” Krentz said. “Often theatre companies think, ‘Well, we just have to hire an interpreter, and that’s accessible.’ That doesn’t mean it’s accessible to a deaf audience. That’s mediation.

“That’s not access, and it’s filtered through the lens of an interpreter.”

He said the show is designed so Deaf and hearing audience members can experience the performance without interpretation or translation.

“There’s no language used,” Krentz said. “It’s an abstract story. Will people fully understand it? Not likely, but I think that they’ll understand the emotional journey attached to this story.”

Rose said the absence of language allows different audience members to connect with the performance in different ways.

“Every theatregoer experiences theatre differently,” he said. “Maybe they’ll relate to a particular animal, maybe they’ll think more about extinction, or maybe they’ll think about languages and cultures.”

The creators say the approach challenges long-standing assumptions that Deaf audiences must rely on mediation to access theatre, while also asking hearing audiences to confront how much meaning is normally carried through spoken language.

Development of A World Without Them began in 2024 while Krentz was artist-in-residence at Ghost River Theatre.

The creators say the lack of linguistic barriers also makes the production well-suited for touring beyond Canada.

“You don’t need to understand sign language, you don’t need to speak English or read or write English,” Krentz said.

“It’s a show that is accessible to everyone.”

A World Without Them runs Feb. 6 to 15 at West Village Theatre, 2007 10 Ave. S.W., and is recommended for audiences aged 12 and older.