Emily Howlett tells us about her role in a brand new Shakespeare production!

This weekend in Coalville, Leicestershire, 1623 Theatre present a brand new version of the William Shakespeare play – Much Ado About Nothing. The play will be BSL interpreted with captions available on personal devices and has one BSL user in its cast. I caught up with Emily Howlett, who plays Beatrice in the play, to find out more.

Hi Emily, for those who don’t know you can you tell us a little about you?

I’m a deaf actor and director, from sunny Derbados (sometimes called Derby), and I adore theatre, Shakespeare, BSL and tea.

Can you tell us about the play – what attracted you to want to perform in it?

I have loved this play since I was 9, so that’s why I’m so happy to be involved! It’s an ‘updated’ version, so it’s as close as possible to the original text while still being accessible to a modern day audience who maybe don’t think ‘full Shakespeare’ is for them (yet). It’s almost like an ‘easy-read’ version of the old fashioned test.

Can you tell us more about the role you’re playing?

I am playing Beatrice who is one of the two main characters. She’s in this complex, funny love/hate relationship with Benedick, a charming solider. Everything they do is a performance, a battle of wits against each other, that hides how they really feel underneath.

It’s really interesting being the only BSL user and also the only deaf character; it’s a lovely way to reflect how we often are as deaf people in a hearing society. Beatrice would rather be hanging out with her deaf friends, but she’s at this family party where nobody signs, but they’ve still all known each other all their lives, so they can communicate.

How does Beatrice interact with others in the play? Is there a language difference?

I do speak a lot of the lines within the play, and there is some SSE. The main BSL moments are when Beatrice is frustrated, or alone. There’s also some very sweet, authentic attempts at BSL by some of the other characters.

What has been absolutely WONDERFUL for me as an actor has been being able to explore the character and the text and find where I naturally want to sign, either from emotion or to communicate, or to be uncommunicative! It’s like an expression of how I often am in real life, and it’s really refreshing to be able to do that on stage rather than “well, I need to sign this information for access, and it must look like this because access, and if I say that then someone else has to sign that”. Not having to think about the access beyond what is natural for the character has been transformative for me as a deaf actor.

Do you feel Shakespeares work lends itself well to BSL and visual/physical theatre?

Shakespeare’s words are poetry, they literally draw everything for you. So, of course BSL is a natural progression of that, and so many lines from Shakespeare are utterly beautiful in BSL. Also the visual aspect of BSL can help anyone access the meaning, as the words themselves can be a bit off putting or obscure for some people.

Can you tell us more about the interpreter, is it integrated or traditional interpreting?

The stage is very small, and there’s a big cast on it, so there will be a specific area dedicated to the interpreter, who will be in costume, but not characterised as anyone integrated. It’s partly practical (there’s really not much space) and partly experimental – I think there’s almost been too much of a push for integrated BSL in all plays, at all times, when actually there’s a variety of ways to offer BSL, and some suit different productions better than others. I don’t think we should forget that, or stop experimenting.

What do you hope the audience gain from watching this play?

I hope they learn to love it as much as I do! And that you should be exactly who you are, because the right people will love you for it.

What sort of advice or guidance would you offer to any other deaf or BSL using actors that are interested in exploring Shakespeare?

Do it! Find support wherever you need it, and do it! Don’t be put off by the language; it’s visual and you just have to tap into that and you’re off.

(Emily Howlett)

For more information on 1623’s Much Ado About Nothing or to book tickets, see their social media handles over on https://www.1623theatre.co.uk/