Sign Theatre a ‘natural way’ of expression for deaf and hard of hearing participants
It’s a Friday night at Calgary’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Society.
A characteristically quiet place, tonight the odd stomp, claps, and howl of laughter breaks the silence.
Sign Theatre, is breaking the silence in more ways than one, proving wrong misconceptions about what deaf and hard of hearing individuals are capable of doing.
Sign Theatre is a branch of the Calgary-based Inside Out Theatre Company, which offers inclusive, quality drama education to people with disabilities.
It brings together local deaf and hard of hearing individuals over a love of theatre and teaches them to express themselves through American Sign Language (ASL), body language, and facial expressions.
Here’s a look from Facilitator Jacqui Burnham at how Sign Theatre has evolved over the years, and what it has done to change the life of one participant, Charlotte Mackinnon.
Produced by: Haleigh Packer and Pamela Di Pinto