Tuesday 27 March 2012

Gold Dust

Deafinitely Theatre's participation in the Globe to Globe Festival will be a fitting moment to celebrate the company's tenth anniversary. It is also appropriate that we are having one of our busiest seasons ever.

It is not just Love's Labour's Lost we have been preparing for but we have four other productions this year plus next year's schedule to think about. Miraculously our staff have not yet had a nervous breakdown. This week our attention is focused on Gold Dust which will be shown at Soho Theatre from Wednesday to Saturday. It's a funny and moving play that has been written by Andrew Muir (who is also the Assistant Director of Love's Labour's Lost).

The style of the play is quite different to what will be seen in Love's Labour's Lost (LLL). Whilst LLL is solely in British Sign Language (BSL), most of our plays have mix of spoken English and BSL and thus ensuring that everyone can access them whether deaf or hearing. Gold Dust is based on a true story and explores the relationship between a deaf father and his hearing son. The father uses sign language throughout the play whilst his son uses speech. The script is clever in that the audience can follow the story regardless of whether they rely on BSL or spoken English to communicate, yet the dialogue between the two characters feels very natural.

Jim Fish (left) and Ilan Dwek (right) in Gold Dust



Wednesday 21 March 2012

Productivity!


Last week we had a production meeting for Love's Labour's Lost. Production meetings are typically long-winded affairs held before rehearsals start to discuss preparations and schedules. Included in the meeting (pictured anticlockwise from bottom) was:
Paula Garfield (Director)
Andrew Muir (Assistant Director)
Mark Sands (Executive Director  i.e. the man with the money!)
Martin McLean (Project Manager - looks after contracts, marketing and the all important blog!)
Kate Furby (Creative Interpreter - translating what was said in the meeting to BSL/English)
Fiona Albrow (Costume and Prop Designer)
Georgina Alexander (Stage Manager)
Simon Heap (Set Designer)
Simon Perkins (Tour Technical Manager)

There was much talk about the set, props and costumes. It is important that they match up well together. For example, if the costumes have an abstract design then the set should also have an abstract feel. Also, the directors need to be clear what can be achieved within budgets the designers have available to them. More to follow about the set and costumes.....

We also talked about the music, the tour, transport, budgets, timescales and lots of details much too dull to repeat here. In all, it was a productive, production meeting!

Wednesday 14 March 2012

An example...


The video is an example of a scene that was translated a couple of weeks ago by our actors.


BEROWNE.
Lady, I will commend you to mine own heart.

ROSALINE.
Pray you, do my commendations; I would be glad to see it.

BEROWNE.
I would you heard it groan.

ROSALINE.
Is the fool sick?

BEROWNE.
Sick at the heart.

ROSALINE.
Alack! let it blood.

BEROWNE.
Would that do it good?

ROSALINE.
My physic says 'ay.'

BEROWNE.
Will you prick't with your eye?

ROSALINE.
No point, with my knife.

BEROWNE.
Now, God save thy life!

ROSALINE.
And yours - from long living!

BEROWNE.
I cannot stay thanksgiving.

(BEROWNE exits.)

Friday 9 March 2012

Late-Winter's Night's Dream

Last night the Deafinitely Theatre team attended The Globe's Gala Performance of Midsummer's Night's Dream. The show was well worth standing in the cold for two hours - fantastic performances all around from the actors. It was followed by a party underneath the theatre where we got to mingle with a few other participants in the Globe to Globe festival. Was great to share our experiences of translating Shakespeare! 


Pictured from Left to Right: Martin McLean, Project Manager (and Blog writer!), Andrew Muir (Assistant Director), Kelly Robinson (Development & Communications), Paula Garfield (Artistic Director), Kate Furby (Creative Interpreter) and Mark Sands (Executive Director).

Monday 5 March 2012

The Labour of Translating Shakespeare



This week our ten actors will continue to work through the text of Love's Labour's Lost, gradually translating it bit by bit. By the end of last week they had got through 55 pages (there are 106 in total). Here's a bit more information about how it all works....

BSL does not not have a written form. This means that unlike many of the other languages used in the Globe to Globe festival creating a script in our language is less straightforward. This means we have asked our actors to be responsible for translating their own lines and then recording them onto video.

Before the two-week translation period started, writer, Andrew Muir worked together with our Artistic Director, Paula Garfield and Creative Interpreter, Kate Furby to edit and cut down the script for the festival. He also translated the text to modern English so that it would be easier for our actors to work with.

The script has the old English next to the modern English. This allows the actors to see both versions of their lines. There have been many excitable discussions about what particular lines mean. What was Shakespeare trying to say? In some instances we may never know for sure!

More to come. Next we will see a filmed example of some text that has been translated.

Friday 2 March 2012



Yesterday our actors, directors and stage manager were given a tour of The Globe. Walking on that great stage should get their juices flowing (not that they weren't already)!

Thursday 1 March 2012



Here are a couple of photos taken this morning.....our ten actors have been busy this week translating 106 pages of text into BSL. They have until 9th March to get through the entire script.

When we all first read through the text a year ago there was a lot of frowning and face-pulling. Love's Labour's Lost is known to be one of Shakespeare's most intellectual plays. There is lots of sophisticated word-play, puns and literary allusions.

Translating the text into BSL with its own unique structure, grammar and syntax is not easy at all. Fortunately, the actors have plenty of support from our two Directors, Paula and Andrew, interpreters Kate and Kathy (see photo above) and stage manager, Georgina. Things have been going well....