NOISE follows Evan, a young deaf student embarking on his first chaotic year of university. Whilst discovering how to bridge the communication barrier and embrace his sexuality in frantic confines, Evan’s world is about to get a lot louder.

Since re-launching as a young people-driven venue in late 2014, The Old Rep has developed a reputation for supporting young and emerging artists to create and showcase high quality new work, championing diversity and celebrating the city’s creative community. NOISE is exactly the kind of exciting production that embodies The Old Rep’s new vision.

Thomas Moran, a Birmingham Rep Foundry artist, discusses the inspiration for his innovative piece: “I was working as a Front of House Assistant at a local theatre when a party, all of whom were deaf, approached me to take their seats for a signed performance. I felt ignorant and incapable of having a simple interaction with them. After they’d found their own way, I was disappointed in my own capabilities, but wanted to learn more. I wanted to understand who or what the barrier is and how life is experienced in both worlds.”

During two years of intensive workshops and research, the piece has been developed in collaboration with deaf and hearing artists. Committed to accessibility, each performance of presentabsence theatre’s NOISE will incorporate live British Sign Language interpretation, audio description and captioning.

A contemporary coming-of-age story, NOISE places a same-sex relationship at the heart of the action as Evan meets his new boyfriend, Harry at university. As his studies unfold and their letterbox floods with takeaway leaflets, Evan makes a life-changing decision that may not be the cure-all he hoped for.

Thomas explains: “As a young gay man, I wanted to craft a piece of theatre that people like me could really relate to, as well as for those outside of the gay community. One of the key ideas that empowered me when writing NOISE was the common desire to hear the words ‘I love you’ and, whether it be signed or spoken, the immense weight which those words can carry.”

NOISE is a heart-warming story of love and togetherness told through physically-charged drama. Expect pulsating beats, stark movement and Monsters Inc. obsessives in a touching tale of life that celebrates everybody: their beauty, flaws and the magic of unity and diversity.