Signing Shakespeare
“ There are over 50,000 deaf children in the UK and Shakespeare is the only named author that all children are required to study by the national curriculum. However, there is a lack of resources for deaf students studying Shakespeare in school.” In this context, Braidwood Trust School for the Deaf (Birmingham, UK) has collaborated with Dr Abigail-Woodall from the University of Birmingham and Tracy Irish from the RSC Theatre. The ‘Signing Shakespeare Project’ involved the creation of online resources and activities to support teachers teaching Shakespeare to Deaf pupils. On 18 July 2024, this group of students from the Braidwood school performed their adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest at the Rep Theatre, Birmingham UK. This was part of the Signing Shakespeare project, which involved working alongside a professional deaf actor: Mia Ward (Prospero). In this performance, Prospero’s long delivery of the backstory (which can be slightly tedious in some productions) was c