Deafinitely Theatre, in association with Paines Plough, present Talking Hands, five bold films by deaf writers directed by Paula Garfield.
Locked down in the coronavirus pandemic, five deaf people across the UK are adapting to a new way of living. Lianne finds it difficult to get her little boy out of bed every morning, let alone home school maths when he’d prefer YouTube Kids. On the other side of the UK, a mother has a team of carers for her disabled daughter reduced to the help of one – her nine-year-old son. With too much time on their hands, EJ is reflecting on big boobs, hairy legs and a life-changing decision. Dara is having their friends around for dinner for the first time since the pandemic began and a lot has happened in the meantime. And Samantha is waiting for an important delivery, which is really testing her patience: everything seems to happen so slowly in lockdown; still, it’s the perfect time to think about what makes us the people we are.
Life, It Goes On by Abigail Gorman, starring Bea Webster; I Still Blame Myself by Lianne Herbert, starring Cherie Gordon; Keeping Hope by Melissa Mostyn, starring Nadia Nadarajah; The Woman I Am written and performed by Samantha Pearsall; and Lockdown Hairy written and performed by EJ Raymond, tell inspirational stories of deaf single parents in lockdown.
These five compelling and heart-warming monologues are bravely inspired by personal experiences and filmed entirely in the visual storytelling of British Sign Language.
Talking Hands is directed by Paula Garfield, with photography direction by Becky Bailey and Teresa Garratty, editing by Samuel Dore and Ted Evans, production design by Isobel Baker-Smith and Frankie Bradshaw, music composed by Chris Bartholomew and dramaturgy by Charlotte Bennett and Phillippe Cato.
Watch the short films for FREE at the links below. Join in the conversation on social media @DeafinitelyT.
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