Tribes: Breaking Down Barriers
Welcome to Chris Dodd's Personal Fundraising Page!

As a deaf performing artist, I am passionate about accessibility and equality.
When I first heard "Tribes" was being produced for the Studio Theatre, I immediately knew that I needed to be involved. As a play and an event, "Tribes" is a rare opportunity to see deaf and hard of hearing performers on stage and to see the beauty, humour, and grace of American Sign Language in action. The play is personal to me, as growing up in a hearing family, I closely relate with the struggles of the lead characters, Billy and Sylvia. "Tribes" discusses family dynamics, deaf culture, and identity and it opens dialogue on topics that are rarely discussed. As such, "Tribes" deserves to be seen and, talked about, by as many people as possible, whether hearing or deaf,
Thank you for supporting us and helping make this unique event possible!
The Department of Drama at the University of Alberta is seeking support for the production ofTribes.
This unusual but very important play introduces a perspective not often witnessed on stage. Written by Nina Raine,Tribes revolves around Billy, a young deaf man whose family has taught him to lip-read and speak. They have refused to learn any form of Sign Language, and are intent on keeping him away from the Deaf community. When Billy is finally introduced to Sign, a whole new world of communication and community opens up for him. Tribes explores the triumphs, dilemmas and familial conflicts that accompany Billy's discovery of his true identity.
Billy is played by Connor Yuzwenko-Martin, a local Deaf actor with a passion for American Sign Language (ASL) advocacy. We are hoping this play opens up dialogue about accessibility, the Deaf community, and how we can take action to provide a more inclusive space in the theatre. The hearing audience has a lot to learn from this production. The exposure to ASL creates a richer and more diverse community, which can only expand the artistic scope of theatre.
To make rehearsals possible, we have enlisted the help of a fantastic group of professional ASL interpreters who work very hard to facilitate communication between all of us.
We will have live ASL interpretation for at least two performances of the ten scheduled. Your support will go towards the additional production costs of interpreters for these performances.
Our goal is not only accessibility for Deaf audiences, but to enhance awareness in the community at large. This is an essential part of the production, and the guiding mission for our Tribes team. We hope this initiative can set a precedent in the Edmonton theatre community, encouraging future productions to consider this form of inclusivity.
In performance, the play is fast paced and sometimes chaotic. An essential part of the making performance accessible is to rehearse with the interpreters and incorporate them into the staging.This takes time and coordination on a large scale. Bringing Tribes to the Edmonton community is a unique challenge, since we are staging a play about Deafness in a predominantly hearing world.
We want to do this properly, which is why we have recruited NICA Consolidated (Network of Interpreters, Consultants and Advocates) to be our interpreter team.
The interpretation element is in addition to what would normally be in the budget for the production. This is why we are asking for your help! Most theatre productions do not provide fully accessible performances; accessibility is more than a wheelchair ramp. Our hope is that the results of this campaign open the door to progress in understanding the needs of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing within the theatre community.

We are looking to raise $5,000 toward this additional production costs. Our generous interpreters are making Tribes truly accessible to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing audience in our city.
The MFA students who are taking part in this unique education experience are Amanda Bergen (MFA Directing) and Robyn Ayles (MFA Design). They are directing and designing this fully accessible production.
Her team members have contributed hundreds of hours as well. All this generosity has allowed Tribesto be accessible to the d/Deaf community as well as making it possible to have Connor Yuzwenko-Martin as a cast member.
Without these incredible women, the cost of this important project would have exceeded the budget of the production. These additional costs would likely have stopped this project from moving ahead.
Nicole and her team realized the value of Tribes and its ability to draw attention to the issue of accessibility of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The $5000 we are raising for Nicole and her team is a small percentage of the total value of their time! Many of these interpreters balanced their full time jobs, family, and other responsibilities to create this opportunity for so many to experience.
With less than a week left we are at 78% of our goal, help us raise the remaining amount through sharing and if you can, donating. We all thank you for your efforts!

http://www.nicaconsolidated.com/



http://www.woablog.com/2015/05/deaf-actor-breaks-down-barriers-in-studio-theatre-debut/
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2015/05/15/colin-maclean-tribes-is-a-play-for-the-senses
http://www.vueweekly.com/prevue-tribes-brings-deaf-realities-to-stage/
Thank you to our supporters! With your help we are well on our way to reaching our goal. We have had our preview and tonight is opening night! Here is a photo of Connor Yuzwenko-Martin and Bobbi Goddard, playing Billy and Sylvia. If you want to read more about Connor's experience as a Deaf actor in Tribes,check out his blog here http://yuzmarconnor.com/2015/04/29/deaf-accent/
(Photo by Ed Ellis, Set/Light/Costume design by Robyn Ayles)


Connor Yuzwenko-Martin

Suzanne Martin

Amanda Bergen
Jan Selman
Lisa Hawkins

Chaslee Schweitzer

Matthew Hulshof
Cayley Hanson

Judy McFerran

Rohan Kulkarni

Chris Dodd

Robyn Ayles

Zoe Glassman

Bobbi Goddard

Nicole Sander
Lore Green
Barb Mykle-Hotzon
Gave $50.00
Louella Webber
Gave $25.00
Judith Haynes
Gave $20.00
abner brown
Gave $50.00
Marjorie Chan
Gave $25.00
Shane Riczu
Gave $50.00
Judi Bauer
Gave $50.00
Amanda Bergen
Gave $50.00
Shawn Clackett
Gave $250.00
Nadine Tratch
Gave $100.00
Anna-Maria LeMaistre
Gave $50.00
Brianne Fahlman
Gave $25.00
Elissa Weinzimmer
Gave $5.00
Jan Selman
Gave $500.00
J Brooke Leifso
Gave $25.00
Shauna Lee Allen
Gave $25.00
Terah Jans
Gave $20.00
Hayley Yuzwenko
Gave $50.00
Steve Patten
Gave $50.00
William Meany
Gave $100.00
Julie Sinclair
Gave $50.00
Taylor Rubin
Gave $15.00
Ruth Vander Woude
Gave $25.00
Anthony Nathan
Gave $5.00
Sean Yuzwenko
Gave $75.00
Elissa Weinzimmer
Gave $5.00
Beverly Parker
Gave $25.00
Lucas Wagner
Gave $35.00
Arista Haas
Gave $50.00
Victory Obiefuna
Gave $25.00
Judy Stelck
Gave $100.00
Kristine Nutting
Gave $25.00
Lynne Martin
Gave $25.00
Martin Neon Martin Neon
Gave $50.00
Heather Donaldson
Gave $50.00
Tony Gruhn's Metalworks Inc.
Gave $250.00
Sharon Pianzola
Gave $25.00
Connor Yuzwenko-Martin
Gave $25.00
Joan Paton
Gave $25.00
Angela Martincevic
Gave $25.00
Jane Potentier
Gave $50.00
Salena Kitteringham
Gave $50.00
Victoria Johns
Gave $25.00
Jeff Schweitzer
Gave $50.00
Janaki Kulkarni
Gave $50.00
David Cheoros
Gave $50.00
Armin Wiebe
Gave $25.00
David Prestley
Gave $150.00
Barbara Hensch
Gave $25.00
Bernice Thomas
Gave $50.00
Carol Dundes
Gave $75.00
Sandra Yuzwenko
Gave $250.00
Jonathan Durynek
Gave $50.00
Sheila Graham
Gave $25.00
Matthew Racz
Gave $25.00
15 supporters have chosen not to be listed for "Tribes: Breaking Down Barriers".
Make an Impact
Fan
Give $5
A gift of this amount lets you to show that you support this project! Every dollar makes a difference.
Booster
Give $25
This gift could provide a half hour of interpreter time. Each gift adds up!
Storyteller
Give $50
Seven gifts could provide us with an interpreter for a full day. The interpreters help us with translating the script from English to ASL that is needed for the actor playing Billy’s girlfriend. She is learning part of a new language too!
Advocate
Give $250
Each of these gift could provide us with five hours of interpreter time. We need them in rehearsal in order to incorporate them into the staging. This is essential to proper interpretation of this fast-paced play.
Ground Breaker
Give $500
Two gifts will cover the out of rehearsal prep time for one interpreter. This gets them ready to interpret the most appropriate ASL choices for the play.
Leader
Give $1,000
One gift could give an interpreter twenty hours of preparation time. This is the time needed to learn the actors' movements and mannerisms; details matter to interpretation, as there are many ways to sign.