Rebecca A Withey: Review of (Un)scripted by Solar Bear and The DH Ensemble (BSL)

(Un)scripted is a research project between Solar Bear and The DH Ensemble supported by Creative Scotland and Arts Council England. Over the course of two weeks, (Un)scripted invited a group of deaf and hearing artists from across the UK to ask three questions in their quest to uncover the best practice for developing, devising and rehearsing scripts with deaf and hearing artists using British Sign Language.

The questions asked were; 1. What is the best way to work with a deaf writer? 2. What is the optimal way to work from written English into BSL? 3. What is the optimal process when making visual theatre with deaf and hearing artists?

As well as creating a series of three videos that aim to delve into answering these questions in a practical way, (Un)scripted also provides a video which acts as a compilation of advice for those working in the industry, delivered by deaf and hearing BSL using actors.

Bea Webster, Jamie Rae, Nadia Nadarajah and Stephen Collins are a selection of the actors featured in the series and Sophie Stone is a deaf writer who uses a new script of her own for the actors to work with through the rehearsal process.

Whilst (Un)scripted is not a defined step-by-step instruction of ‘How To,’ its engaging style of videos encourages writers, directors and actors to think outside the box and and consider which practices they currently use that are in need of altering or abandoning altogether.

Important considerations such as the amount of time deaf actors must spend translating English scripts into BSL are addressed here as well as showing the benefits of improvisational styles of devising and rehearsal.

The series also addresses the importance of working with deaf writers and those informed about deaf culture in order to ensure scripts involving deaf topics are authentic and relevant. An interesting matter they described was how to record the specific BSL signs a writer may want an actor to use, especially if there are several different ways to sign a word as well as the regional variations.

We are asked to reflect on how much we truly value BSL within a script and this causes us to ponder whether we unconsciously have a bias towards English that prevents us from trying new, visual ways of devising.

The video series created in (Un)scripted is a powerful reminder that the current system for involving, celebrating and exploring BSL and deaf culture is far from complete.

We are, however, at a very exciting period in the history of deaf theatre as companies such as Solar Bear and The DH Ensemble are evidence of, with an increased interest in and passion for defining how integrated, accessible theatre can be improved.

Whilst the (Un)scripted series may not answer how exactly to create that best practice in a fail safe way, it does indeed highlight the areas that theatre makers must address if they wish to transmute the current limitations BSL-using actors have in the industry.

It seems that although (Un)scripted was created to answer just three questions, the quest of doing so has demonstrated that we have many more questions to answer and solutions to offer.

Therefore, to improve deaf theatre we must always work with a sense of inquisitive curiosity and open mindedness, which Solar Bear and The DH Ensemble are a testament to.

You can see a trailer of the series here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SCzTjUp6c_NX8FlkrBodfaYk5x8vc1cE

To view the full series please go to:  https://solarbear.org.uk/productions/unscripted/</

Photo credit: David Monteith-Hodge