Cast Set For Eloise Pennycott's BARRIER(S) at Deafinitely Theatre

Artistic Director of Deafinitely Theatre Paula Garfield, MBE has announced the cast for the company's forthcoming touring production of Barrier(s) by Eloise Pennycott - Em Prendergast and Zoë McWhinney. 

The production opens at The Rep, Birmingham from 18 - 25 October, with press welcome on 21 October, before touring to HOME, Manchester from 6 - 8 November. The production will culminate at Camden People's Theatre from 11 - 29 November, with press welcome on 11 November, where it will feature in the inaugural season of their new Artistic Director Rio Matchett.

Eloise Pennycott said, “I am so excited to see Barrier(s) brought to life on stage with such a great cast and creative team. Zoë McWhinney and Em Prendergast have already brought so much to the play during research and development, and I could not be more pleased to have them take on the roles of Katie and Alana. This play has developed far from what it was three years ago at The National Theatre - I cannot wait to bring this production to our audiences.”

Paula Garfield said, “I'm thrilled to introduce the cast of our new production, Barrier(s) - a heartwarming and revolutionary production, written by a young deaf talent Eloise Pennycott. This story explores queer topics through the lens of a deaf and hearing relationship, stressing the importance of acknowledging and speaking up about issues surrounding LGBTQ+ and deaf communities. I can't wait to see both Zoë McWhinney and Em Prendergast bring Pennycott's script to life on stage.”

Alana and Katie come from different worlds. One is hearing, one is deaf. Together, they navigate the joys and struggles of love, communication and survival in a world that keeps putting up barriers. When the world tries to silence you, how can you hold on to love?

Eloise Pennycott's Barrier(s) is a powerful and intimate love story. Full of warmth, humour and the fight to be understood. Critically acclaimed for its honesty and gripping storytelling, Barrier(s) is a theatrical experience that speaks volumes – even without words.

Eloise Pennycott is a playwright, actor and theatre maker who made her writing debut at the National Theatre in 2022, with Barrier(s) which won the National Theatre's New Views competition. Her other plays include Butterflies (Deafinitely Theatre Young Company) and More… Ghost Stories by Candlelight (HighTide, East of England Tour, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse). As an actor, she is best known for playing Daisy on BBC's Phoenix Rise, her other acting credits include The Power, Lord of the Flies (Leeds Playhouse) and Cymbeline (Shakespeare's Globe Young Company).

Zoë McWhinney plays Katie. Theatre credits at Deafinitely Theatre include Everyday (UK tour). Other theatre credits include Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare's Globe), A Night in Sign (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), Can Bears Ski, Lillies on the Land (UK Tour), Red (Polka Theatre), Fidelio (Barbican Centre), Sleeping Beauty (CAST Theatre), Iconoclast (Zoo Co Theatre), 48% (Torshovteatret Norway Theatre), Fisherman's Friend (The MAC Belfast). Television credits include Small World. She is a graduate of École de Théâtre Universelle's ‘Visual Theatre in French Sign Language' program, and was runner-up for BSL Poet Laureate in both 2023–2024 and 2025–2026. She was nominated for the ‘Forward Poetry Prize in the Performance' category for her piece The Portrait and the Skylight. Her work also includes consulting for the RSC on BSL, also contributing to Dead Centre's stage adaptation of Ilya Kaminsky's Deaf Republic, which was performed at the Royal Court and Dublin Theatre Festival.

Em Prendergast plays Alana. They often work in a mixture of integrated BSL (British Sign Language), SSE (Sign Supported English) and Spoken English. Theatre credits include The Odyssey (National Theatre), Animal Farm (Leeds Playhouse), A Clear Comfort (Van Gogh House), A Christmas Carol (Hull Truck, Leeds Playhouse), Messy, Night Shift (Zoo Co Theatre), The Witchfinder's Sister (Queen's Theatre), Resisters (Yellow Arch Studios), Amelia (South Streets Art Centre), Winter Wonderland (Hull New Theatre), Alice in Wonderland (Global English Theatre), Hysteria (Catalyst Festival), Dracula (The Loco Klub), Welcome to Thebes (Tobacco Factory), The Wizard of Oz (Redgrave Theatre) and Under Milk Wood (UK tour). Television credits include Doctors and EastEnders. Prendergast also recently participated in the 2025 Soho Writers lab, developing a lesbian adaptation of Yerma.

Paula Garfield directs. For Deafinitely Theatre she has also directed The Vagina Monologues, The Promise, Something Else, Can Bears Ski?, Everyday, 4.48 Psychosis, Horrible Histories – Dreadful Deaf, Contractions – which won the Off West End Award for Best Production, Two Chairs, Motherland, Children of a Greater God, Playing God, Double Sentence and Gold Dust. She also devised and directed The Boy and the Statue for Deafinitely at the Tricycle Theatre and on a London schools' tour. Garfield has directed two productions at Shakespeare's Globe – Love Labour's Lost, for the Globe-to-Globe Festival as part of Deafinitely's 10th anniversary, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Her other directing work includes Tanika's Journey (Southwark Playhouse) and Grounded (Park Theatre).

An actor, director and field creative leader, she has worked on a variety of television, film and theatre projects over the past twenty years. In 2002, she established Deafinitely Theatre with Steven Webb and Kate Furby after becoming frustrated at the barriers that deaf actors and directors face across the arts and media industry. She has produced and directed many plays and worked extensively in TV, including Channel Four's Learn Sign Language, Four Fingers and a Thumb, BBC's Hands Up and Casualty, plus appearances in every series of the BBC's deaf drama, Switch.

Garfield was also awarded the Tonic Award for her work at Deafinitely Theatre. In 2024, she was awarded an MBE in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the arts and profound impact on the deaf community.