Bristol-based theatre company Ad Infinitum have announced the tour of Last Rites, a show co-created by Scottish-Singaporean theatremaker and Deaf artist Ramesh Meyyappan and Ad Infinitum Co-Artistic Director George Mann which premiered at MimeLondon, alongside an expansion of their work in education and a brand-new Artist Development Programme. The company has announced two new roles, with theatremaker Elisabeth Gunawan taking up a position of Associate Artist, and theatremaker and director Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford taking up the title of Associate Director, a role created over a years-long consultation period specifically for directors who are Sign Language Users and/or Deaf working in the sector. Ad Infinitum has also published the findings of their consultation with five artists including Graeae Theatre Company’s Jenny Sealey.
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Last Rites combines physical, non-verbal storytelling with dynamic projection and a soundtrack that can be felt and heard. Told through a Deaf man’s perspective, this show tells the poignant story of a complex relationship cut short. Last Rites follows a man who has twenty-four hours to perform his father’s funeral rights. Created in response to Meyyappan and Mann’s memories of losing their fathers, and their own lived experiences of fatherhood, the show celebrates the transformative power of grief and parenthood. The show will tour from January 2025, including a week-long run on Bristol Old Vic’s main stage in July; full details of tour venues to be announced. The tour announcement comes as Ad Infinitum returns from Mexico where they premiered the company’s first major international collaboration Until I Find You / Hasta Encontrarte, a show exploring the disturbing phenomenon of forced disappearance, made in co-production with theatre company El Ingenio Del Caldero and UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) with a team of UK and Mexican creatives.
Ad Infinitum has been working for more than a decade with the Deaf arts community, most prominently on Extraordinary Wall [of Silence] and Light. In 2021, they held consultation sessions asking five celebrated Deaf artists to respond to a brief exploring the idea of creating an Associate Director position at Ad Infinitum for a director who is a Sign Language User and/or Deaf working in the sector. The artists consulted were: Rinkoo Barpaga, freelance theatre maker and comedian; Jonny Cotsen, performance artist, facilitator and consultant; Matthew Gurney, freelance theatre and film actor/maker/director; Jenny Sealey, artistic director of Graeae Theatre Company; and Sophie Stone, freelance theatre and TV actor/maker/director. The resulting report, available in both written English and British Sign Language, highlighted barriers including lack of opportunities, and existing opportunities being usually brief with insufficient funding and resources. It also noted that there are few events or platforms for Deaf directors to present their work in safe environments.
From the report and in consultation with artists, Ad Infinitum have created the role of Associate Director, and the first person to take the role will be Midlands-based theatremaker Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford. Russell de Clifford is a theatre facilitator, director, writer and BSL storyteller who has worked with Deafinitely Theatre, Vamos Theatre and Taking Flight Theatre, as well as previously running her own accessible theatre company, DeDrama. Between October 2024 and March 2025, Russell de Clifford will be undertaking residencies and mentorship sessions, shadowing other companies and artists, and developing an in-progress work with a company of artists and creatives.
Co-artistic director George Mann said, “Working with some of the best Deaf artists and leaders from the performance Sign Language community for over 12 years has been, and continues to be, an absolute joy, and has changed our organisation for the better. The relationships we forged have highlighted the barriers and lack of opportunity for Sign Language Using theatre artists, in particular Directors who are Deaf, in a hearing-dominated theatre sector. So after 3 years of consultation, co-design and inspiring conversations, launching our new associate director programme, Changing Direction, is a really exciting milestone. We are thrilled to be appointing Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford, an exceptionally talented artist who has co-designed her bespoke journey with us including a research and development phase for her upcoming new play.”
In addition, the position of Associate Artist has been created to support a theatremaker from an underrepresented background, and will be first taken up by writer and performer Elisabeth Gunawan. Gunawan has performed with companies across the UK, and has created two solo shows as well as shows with the artist collective Saski Bisou, which she also founded. Gunawan has previously worked with Ad Infinitum as a performer/deviser on 2023’s If You Fall. Until March 2025, Gunawan will be working with Ad Infinitum to develop her artistic ideas and explore how we can make arts organisations, and the sector, better serve creatives.
Co-artistic director Nir Paldi said, “Collaboration is at the heart of what we do as an organisation and the sense of connectedness to other creatives within the arts community is a huge part of what keeps us going. Since 2020, in response to the challenges the sector has faced and continues to face, we embarked on two years of extensive consultation with freelance theatre makers, and a pilot working with two brilliant artists exploring the potential structure and aims for a new artist-led programme at Ad Infinitum. We’re delighted to launch our Associate Artist role and honoured to be collaborating with Elisabeth Gunawan – a fantastic artist making incredible work.”
Ad Infinitum will be continuing to offer their Learning and Engagement programmes to schools, delivering free-to-access workshops and digital resources to primary and secondary schools in Bristol. In a time of radical decrease in arts provision in education and its diminished importance in the National Curriculum, detrimental barriers to the benefits of culture exist for Children and Young People all over the UK. The company work with primary and secondary school teachers to create work that lives long after the workshops have ended, giving teachers new additional skills to support their devising practices in the classroom and alongside the national curriculum.
Beyond schools, the company have also launched a wider Artist Development programme which includes regular devising Masterclasses for professional artists; skills-based courses for arts professionals including BSL courses and Mental Health First Aid Training; and opportunities for artists to book support sessions throughout the year.
