Deaf Republic at Royal Court Jerwood Theatre : 'hugely powerful portrait of occupation'

The Cast of Deaf Republic - (Johan Persson)

Using sign language, video, puppetry and even aerial circus skills, this portrait of wartime occupation builds from a slow start into something haunting and hugely powerful. It plays with perspective and the borders between media, as well as the creative intersection between the deaf and the hearing community, in a way that is initially strenuous and eventually spellbinding.

Adapted from poems by the Ukrainian-American Ilya Kaminsky (whose own hearing was affected by childhood mumps), it speaks most obviously to Russia’s invasion of the country of his birth. Yet its depiction of oppression and suffering, but also the tenacity of the human spirit, feels endlessly, depressingly applicable to conflicts across the globe.