Guest Blog: Clare-Louise English On Deafinitely Theatre's SOMETHING ELSE

I'm hugely excited to be performing in Deafinitely Theatre's touring production of Something Else, because in today's world it's important to champion inclusion and diversity. It's one of the great privileges of the arts to be in a position to do that, and I'm chuffed to be working with some of those champions on this show. They are a constant inspiration in my work with my own company, Hot Coals Theatre, and to me as a performer.

I was first introduced to Paula Garfield, the Artistic Director of Deafinitely, when I went to a 'general audition' at the National Theatre for deaf and disabled actors. I am what some call 'deafened', meaning I was born hearing into a hearing family and, in my teens, lost a large portion of my hearing in both ears and now wear a hearing aid.

When I met Paula and then went to see Deafinitely's incredible production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe, I knew I wanted to work with the company, whatever it took. There followed a long process of learning sign language and repeated auditions for them. Amusingly, my first ever audition for Deafinitely was for Something Else, when they toured the show a few years ago. I didn't get the role then, so it feels like a wonderful completion of the circle to get it now.

Going back to that performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, I'd never seen the place so energised, so tantalisingly electric. The production combined hearing and deaf actors, using BSL and spoken English (Shakespearean, of course) plus live music and a huge amount of visual and physical elements. It was, hands down - pardon the pun! - the best production of The Dream I had ever seen, and I've seen my fair share. This was the Globe as it should be: alive, dynamic, all-inclusive.

But surely all theatre should be like this? There's no reason why deaf and hearing audiences can't enjoy the same show in the same place at the same time. The human experience and our understanding of each other transcends language, and Deafinitely prove this every time they make new work.

One of the ways they achieve this, I believe, is by working with both deaf and hearing actors in their shows and through their development process. In Something Else there are three actors: one man, born deaf, who uses BSL as his first language; another man, hearing and fluent in BSL; and myself, a woman born hearing but now deaf, learning (fast) BSL. We cover some of the points on what is a very long and varied spectrum.

The show is aimed at children and carries a very clear message of acceptance and inclusion - not just through the narrative of the story, but also by the diversity of the actors on stage. Deafinitely's work doesn't just say "This is what you should do", it shows you what it looks like - leading by example.

It also shows deaf children that theatre can be made for them too - theatre that they can enjoy with all of their family and friends regardless of where they sit on that wonderful spectrum.

I'm making it sound very serious, but Deafinitely do all this with humour and fun because, after all, everyone loves to laugh!

Something Else touring 26 May-2 June

Watch a trailer for Something Else below

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