Vinay Patel

BSL on stage: 'It gives me the ability to express so many more things' From signing Shakespeare to rapping in a musical: how sign language can light up our stages

We asked d/Deaf actors and BSL interpreters to tell us all about how they use sign language on stage.

What’s it like, translating written English to BSL? Or trying to sign for multiple characters at once? Or interpreting the dense poetry of Shakespeare, or how a song is being sung in a musical?

"I'm flying!"

Nope it’s that one!

The dog fielded at deep fine leg

The Spirit of Cricket isn’t found on the field - it’s found on a random square outside a pub after a game finishes early where disappointed fans - strangers all - join together to bowl a few overs at a lad clutching a thermos as a bat

And if you’ve not seen the film you don’t naturally assume someone is singing the words “Thunder Dome” even if I’m unsure about what I actually heard

Ian I don’t know why. I think because I’ve never really seen the film?!

Oh me too. To not do it is cowardice to my mind

I don’t even know! Mad

I know! Just a banging song played in the back of my dad’s car until JUST NOW

Because I’ve misheard the lyrics since childhood I’ve only now realised that Tina Turner’s “We Don’t Need Another Hero” is about escaping the Thunderdome from Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome

Playwrights! Screenwriters! Friends of playwrights and screenwriters! If you're in London on the 24th July PLEASE join us for a #SupportPlaywrightsSummerSocial at Soho Theatre Walthamstow. Pls share.

the Fantastic Four cast get asked about their own personal fantastic four, which leads to some canned niceties from pascal, kirby and quinn, and an insanely he knows ball answer from ebon.

Should’ve saved the exclamation marks for those mad, mad pens

FOOTBALL!!!

(And 2023 for that matter - although maybe that was a bit of a harbinger now I think about the final again)

I don’t follow as closely as you do but I was surprised by how few useful attacking passes were made in that half. I think I have a real false memory of what I saw in 2022

Solid mid-tier Wes. Kate’s kid is good fun

I actually wound up watching Asteroid City but yes that or Budapest probably splits the difference…

Watched The Phoenician Scheme (at a dog friendly screening, yes) and then for some reason came home and double-biller it with The French Connection and boy was that some tonal whiplash

Yep and of course Cassian feels so much more weighty, a heaviness there instead of a cipher

They weren’t wrong - if really feels different after it

Gosh, I'm jealous of that! And yeah, I don't know how it will scan now but I think it's strange enough to allow it to be more metaphorical than its direct context (or so I hope anyway)

(This is how long I’ve been waiting for that)

Oh wow! Finally getting Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo over here (and directed by Omar Elerian which is A Good Call)

ANDOR - The Final Episodes | Film Crit Hulk Get more from Film Crit Hulk on Patreon

For the late night crowd, stayed up to finish recaps on THE FINAL ANDOR EPISODES - and holy cow, what a poetic, spy-filled, thoughtful, measured, exciting and emotionally poignant series. I am stunned (and can't wait to watch Rogue One in context, that'll come soon) www.patreon.com/posts/128920...

I imagined I’d have a slightly different take if I wrote that post now but just fun to be excited for what my past self had coming up - my own prequel magic

They’ve consistently managed to do that, haven’t they, these little memorable language tweaks that cut through your expectation of That Kind Of Scene