Sign language – an artistic approach

How do you create theater in an artistic group consisting of deaf and hearing people with different knowledge and ability to use verbal and sign language? And how can personal attachments to identity and language form the basis for a theater performance that includes both deaf and hearing people?

This experiment aims to take the representation of deaf actors seriously and find out what tools can be used to create a theater performance aimed at an audience of both deaf and hearing people. We want to experiment with which artistic approaches can be used to include, exclude, offend and unite deaf and hearing people. Is it possible to create a bridge and how does it affect the art that comes out on the other side.

THE TEAM BEHIND

Charlotte Munksø – director and choreographer
Lars Otterstedt – director and set designer
Regina Rex – playwright
Bo Hårdell – actor
Ragna Huse – actress
Ida Nørfelt Lund – actor
Sebastian Alstrup – actor

 

Our four actors have very different backgrounds and connections to sign language and therefore all bring something unique to the constellation. Bo Hårdell is deaf and has therefore grown up with sign language. He graduated as an actor in 2011 and has since performed in theaters throughout the Nordic region – most recently with the show Brødrene Løvehjerte (The Brothers Lionheart), which was produced by Riksteatern Crea (Sweden) and Teater Manu (Norway). Ida Nørfelt Lund is hearing and trained as an actress and sign language interpreter. Ida has worked extensively with children’s/youth theater both with and without sign language and is, among other things, co-founder of theater [døgdi]. Ragna Huse is deaf and grew up with both verbal and sign language. Ragna graduated as an actress in 2011 in Denmark and has primarily worked on the Norwegian stage, where she currently resides and hails from. Growing up with a cousin who is deaf, Sebastian Alstrup has always been interested in sign language and took it under his wing in his bachelor project at the Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2023, where he explored creating inclusive theater for the deaf. He did this in collaboration with Ida and Bo. Sebastian graduated from DDSKS Copenhagen in 2023.

Our director, set designer and playwright are carefully selected for their relevance and experience. Our playwright grew up having to speak sign language to her mother and can therefore speak both Danish sign language and Danish verbal language. She’s also used to experimenting with alternative ways of creating and “writing” scripts. Our set designer is Swedish and brings a lot of experience from Sweden, where he recently worked on one of the largest productions in the Nordics with a majority of deaf people both on and behind the stage. “The Brothers Lionheart” was produced by Teater Manu (Norway) and Riksteatern Crea (Sweden), who have been working with theater for the deaf for over 20 years. Our director Charlotte Munksø is not only one of the most recognized directors and teachers in Denmark – she is also a trained dancer and has a physical approach to working with theatre that is guaranteed to be reflected in the design of the performance.