Deciphers
A moving, multi-sensory contemporary duet about immigrant experiences and translation, connections, and identities.
Deciphers is a compelling and intimate physical performance that examines the complexity of human communication. Created and performed by Naishi Wang (Canada/China) and Jean Abreu (UK/Brazil), this cross-cultural collaboration blends elements of Chinese Folk Dance, Brazilian movement, spoken word, breathwork, and ink on paper to explore themes of translation and identity.
The stage becomes a space of negotiation and revelation—where gestures, words, and mark-making attempt to bridge the gap between understanding and misunderstanding. With evocative lighting design and sound design, Deciphers invites audiences into a live experience that is both viscerally physical and deeply poetic
Watch the Trailer
Deciphers is a beautiful, poignant reflection on migrant lived experience, unfolding with emotional depth and a rich sense of humanity. Wang and Abreu deliver striking emotional intensity, their bodies speaking volumes through fluid, often contorted shapes executed with remarkable clarity and control.The Spy in the Stalls
Electrifying, sensational and satisfyingly exhausted. The physicality of Deciphers is at once extremely intense yet extremely subtle. Abreu & Wang choose to illustrate their mutual journeys as immigrants through their bodies both as a site and a tool.A Young(ish) Perspective
A compelling and intimate physical performance delivered with skill.Theatre & Arts Reviews
Credits
Deciphers - An international collaboration by Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu
Created and performed by: Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu
Lighting Design: Lucie Bazzo
Visual Design: Ivy Wang
Music/ Composition Olesia Onykiienko
Dramaturgy: Guy Cools
Outside Eye: Ginelle Chagnon
Voice Coach: Fides Krucker
Rehearsal Director: Xing Bang Fu
Access Consultant: Zed Lightheart
Technical Director: Emerson Kafarowski
Stage Manager: A.J. Morra
PR: Robert James
Producers: Michael Peter Johnson (UK) and Robert Sauvey (Canada)
