Signing Shakespeare
There are around 52,000 deaf children in the UK and an estimated 308,648 deaf or hard of hearing children between the ages of 5 and 17 in the US. Many of these young people are disadvantaged in the classroom.
Deafness by itself is not a learning disability, but its effects can be compounded by factors such as non-inclusive practice or an inadequate linguistic environment. Recent figures show that British deaf students achieve, on average, a grade lower than their hearing peers at GCSE level.
Beginning as a research project between the RSC and the University of Birmingham, it has evolved into a programme consisting of active, rehearsal room-based resources for the study of Shakespeare’s Plays, supported by a series of films performed by Deaf actors in British Sign Language (BSL), Sign Supported English (SSE – not a language in itself but a form of communication used in some classrooms where there are deaf students) and American Sign Language (ASL).
So far we have completed a scheme of work for Macbeth which is on the RSC Learning pages. Following the completion of this resource we have run a CPD day for Teachers of the D/deaf and theatre practitioners who work with D/deaf students in the UK and have since followed up to find out about the impact of the resources and the CPD training on their professional practice, attitudes and confidence in teaching Shakespeare to their students.
Making Shakespeare Accessible to Deaf Children
We are now working as part of Culture Forward and with Birmingham Rep on a project to bring sections of The Tempest to the stage, working again with Braidwood Trust School for the Deaf and many of the D/deaf artists with whom we worked on Macbeth. We are aiming to lobby government for support to make the resources for the remainder of the Shakespeare plays named on the National Curriculum.