Review: Deafinitely Theatre’s ‘Talking Hands’ series (BSL)

Talking Hands, a series of five monologues by Definitely Theatre in association with Paines Plough, is a powerful recollection of the trials and tribulations experienced by deaf people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Directed by Paula Garfield, each of the five videos offers a unique retelling. Writers Samantha Pearsall, Abigail Gorman, Melissa Mostyn, Lianne Herbert and EJ Raymond have each created an episode with their own distinct view on the challenges and insights that lockdown brought.

Covering issues such as single parenting, caring for a disabled child, gender identity, sexuality and mental health, viewers can expect to gain much insight from these warmly accessible monologues.

Each of the monologues is set in a relaxed location of the characters home. Their homes are colourful, messy, warm, and wholly realistic in nature. I enjoyed the colourful kitchen in Bea Webster’s performance of ‘Life, it goes on’ and I felt the eclectic environment suited the quirky nature of that particular script.

Each setting had been carefully thought out to match the vibe and energy of the script being delivered and the action we see – whether it be an actor painting a wall or opening a curtain – felt carefully considered and sensitive to the timing of the delivery and also to the topic of what was being discussed.

We meet each of the characters at home in their living room, bedroom, staircase and even kitchen. The monologues are delivered directly to the camera and this intimacy allows us to feel a sense of close connection with the story being told.

The style is highly reminiscent of the ever popular Alan Bennett Talking Heads series where key characters delivered monologues in spoken english from the comfort of their armchair or from the corner of their room as they looked out at the world from behind a curtain. I personally recall watching these and I am so pleased to now be able to enjoy a version in British Sign Language (BSL.)

Talking Hands is equally mesmerising to watch and it is its retelling in BSL that makes it so relevant to the deaf community. I feel that BSL is a wonderful storytelling tool especially when it is delivered by one person and this sense of delivering one-person stories goes back to ancient times when people would sit around the fire telling stories at the end of the day. I therefore feel Deafinitely Theatre’s decision to produce this insightful work as monologues was very wise.

Although each of the actors were strong, I particularly enjoyed Cherie Gordon’s performance in Lianne Herbert’s ‘I Still Blame Myself’ as I felt her performance was incredibly natural and therefore very believable. It was also enjoyable to watch EJ Raymond, an actor I have not seen perform before but is captivating to watch.

On the whole, I feel Talking Hands is an importance resource for future deaf generations to look back on and see stories about the lockdown delivered in British Sign Language. Lockdown was a time like no other in the history and so this series feels like a documented piece of our own history that we can use for reflection and insight.

by Rebecca A Withey 

You can watch all five of the Talking Hands monologues here: https://www.deafinitelytheatre.co.uk/pages/category/talking-hands

Rebecca Anne Withey is a freelance writer, performing artist and consultant. She is also profoundly deaf, a sign language user and pretty great lipreader. She writes on varied topics close to her heart in the hope that they may serve to inspire others.