Who Speaks For Me?

Discover the unexpected stories of Western Sydney in an intimate multi-lingual, multi-generational storytelling show, Who Speaks For Me? 

Through personal narratives and photographs, Who Speaks For Me? explores the vagaries of language – the powerlessness of those who do not have it, the nuances lost in translation, and the sometimes hilarious consequences of misunderstanding it. 

Who Speaks For Me? includes the story of Cambodian mother, Ly Heang Seang, who was so desperate to get her driver’s license that she sat for the written test a total of 31 times before succeeding. Throughout her story, Ly Heang Seang comes to rely on her son, Vanna, for communicating in English including facilitating meetings with his school principal and at a later stage, providing the words to assist Ly Heang Seang to triumph over workplace bullying.

The production also includes the story of Vietnamese refugee, Bà Quôc Viêt, who fled her homeland by boat with her daughter Sophie To, and arrived to a celebrity welcome in Sydney. Famous in Vietnam and parts of south-east Asia for her cooking expertise, Bà Quôc Viêt never let a lack of English get in her way, especially when it came to communicating with her ‘favourite’ grandson William who was born profoundly deaf and learnt to speak only English.

These and other irresistible stories will be accompanied by rare photographs from private collections and will take the audience to the heart of the migrant’s journey.