Ellipse Theatre Community

OVERVIEW

VOICELESS: A MUSICAL is a new theatre piece created by Deena Kamm, a voice/music coach, performer, and composer located in Bend, OR, and Anne Fenn, a Toronto-based comedy writer/screenwriter and professor. The story is based on Fenn’s real-life experience with muscle tension dysphonia (a functional neurological disorder), which caused her to lose her speaking voice for a year, with no obvious physical explanation.

Our show features four female leads and three (+) neurodiverse characters, challenging the traditional norms of the entertainment industry and celebrating their voices in a way that resonates with contemporary culture.

SYNOPSIS

The story of VOICELESS: A MUSICAL is centered around Addy, founder of Spectrum Services, a small courier company that employs people on the autism spectrum, including Addy’s beloved niece, Gigi. Together they have created an ideal, fun-filled workplace; they love their jobs almost as much as they love each other.

Addy holds all her tension in her throat and has been struggling with her speaking voice as she fights to keep Spectrum Services afloat financially and repair her fractured relationship with her narcissistic mother, Liz. To save her company and please her mom, Addy agrees to participate in a Shark Tank-type competition with her mom’s new BF, Kathy, a con artist who presents herself as a successful entrepreneur.

The event is a total disaster. Addy ends up completely losing her speaking voice, and Kathy starts slowly taking over Spectrum Services. Meanwhile, Addy seeks the support of the eccentric ENT doctor, Dr. Stone, who reveals layers to voice she’d never imagined, including chakras and the intimate relationship between the mind and body. To her amazement, Addy discovers that even though she can’t talk, she can still sing!

But real life ain’t a Broadway musical, and things go from bad to critical for Addy. When her beloved Gigi goes missing, Addy must finally speak up and save her beloved niece, her business, and herself. Even if it means risking her relationship with her mother for good.