The Black Drum

Hailed as the world’s first Deaf musical—told entirely in American Sign Language and Signed Music—The Black Drum revolves around Joan and her journey to healing after the death of her wife, Karen. Since Karen’s passing, Joan has been unable to share her music with the world, anguish snatching her desire to perform. Joan’s grief pulls her into a bizarre, black-and-white world where her two beautiful tattoos come to life as guides and together they confront a monster called the Minister. But the only way to defeat the Minister and begin to heal is for Joan to embrace her own voice.

An epic fantasy about grief and healing, The Black Drum questions the concept of music we are conditioned to believe, suggesting that music is not just something you hear, it is something you see and feel.

AUTHOR

Adam Pottle

Born Deaf and raised in a hearing family, Adam Pottle spent his childhood searching for magical portals and pretending to be Godzilla. He is the award-winning author of works in multiple genres, including the acclaimed writing memoir Voice and the Deaf horror novel Apparitions. His plays include the groundbreaking works Ultrasound and The Black Drum. When not writing, he can be found at the boxing gym, the library, or the park with his goldendoodle Valkyrie. He lives in Saskatoon.

Reviews

“The Black Drum is a musical that resonates for both deaf and hearing audiences.”

“The Black Drum is, at its core, a ground-breaking piece of Canadian theatre for the Deaf community that will hopefully prompt other artists to come forward and share their stories and talents.”

“The Black Drum is a fairy tale that feels like Alice meets Dracula in a black & white wonderland—and sharing the music and love we carry in our hearts and bodies defeats the evil, at least for the moment.”