Tom Power: 'Prince Hamlet' is an adaptation of Shakespeare's
Tom Power: famous play.
Tom Power: Except this tale of revenge is narrated
Tom Power: entirely in American Sign Language
Tom Power: by the character Horatio.
Tom Power: Now, there are actors who do have speaking roles...
Tom Power: But no one is interpreting
Tom Power: the sign language for the audience.
Tom Power: Dawn Jani Birley is the actor who plays
Tom Power: Horatio in 'Prince Hamlet'.
Tom Power: She herself is deaf.
Tom Power: She knows five different types of
Tom Power: sign language. Dawn is in the q studio right
Tom Power: now. Dawn, welcome to the show!
Dawn Jani Birley: Hi. Thank you for having me.
Dawn Jani Birley: I'm happy to be here.
Dawn Jani Birley: I'm really excited!
Tom Power: I should say that Dawn is joined by her
Tom Power: ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter Kate Lewis.
Tom Power: So 'Hamlet' is one of Shakespeare's
Tom Power: most famous plays.
Tom Power: How familiar with were you
Tom Power: with 'Hamlet' before you got into this project?
Dawn Jani Birley: I was familiar. The first
Dawn Jani Birley: exposure to Shakespeare that I had
Dawn Jani Birley: was in high school in English
Dawn Jani Birley: class, grades 9 to 12. I took English class.
Dawn Jani Birley: My English teacher was a fanatic
Dawn Jani Birley: for Shakespeare
Dawn Jani Birley: and so I was stuck
Dawn Jani Birley: with her for the full duration of my
Dawn Jani Birley: high-school career.
Dawn Jani Birley: And that was my introduction to Hamlet
Dawn Jani Birley: and other Shakespeare plays
Dawn Jani Birley: as well! So I was familiar
Dawn Jani Birley: with the play before going into this.
Tom Power: Were you a fan?
Dawn Jani Birley: Yes and no. I
Dawn Jani Birley: was young... so
Dawn Jani Birley: at the age of 14, 15, 16... Shakespeare
Dawn Jani Birley: wasn't really my thing.
Dawn Jani Birley: But as I got into acting
Dawn Jani Birley: as a profession,
Dawn Jani Birley: I was able to do a number of Shakespeare
Dawn Jani Birley: roles
Dawn Jani Birley: and it took time for me to learn
Dawn Jani Birley: to appreciate the language for sure.
Dawn Jani Birley: At the same time,
Dawn Jani Birley: right now,
Dawn Jani Birley: the work that I'm doing
Dawn Jani Birley: with 'Prince Hamlet'...
Dawn Jani Birley: I have to say I am very
Dawn Jani Birley: grateful to my high school English teacher
Dawn Jani Birley: for having prepared me for this role.
Dawn Jani Birley: (laughter)
Tom Power: Yeah! High school English teachers are like piano lessons.
Tom Power: You don't wish you had them until
Tom Power: WAY too late in life.
Dawn Jani Birley: Exactly, for sure!
Tom Power: How common are plays like
Tom Power: 'Prince Hamlet', with an actor signing
Tom Power: to a hearing audience
Tom Power: with no interpreter?
Dawn Jani Birley: I can't really confirm
Dawn Jani Birley: this or say this
Dawn Jani Birley: with any certainty...
Dawn Jani Birley: But I am fairly
Dawn Jani Birley: sure that this has never existed
Dawn Jani Birley: before in Canada. What
Dawn Jani Birley: we are offered
Dawn Jani Birley: as deaf audience members
Dawn Jani Birley: and deaf patrons is not this
Dawn Jani Birley: kind of theatrical experience.
Dawn Jani Birley: There aren't a lot of deaf performers
Dawn Jani Birley: in Canada, and so the idea of
Dawn Jani Birley: representation in Canada is very
Dawn Jani Birley: very weak relative
Dawn Jani Birley: to other areas such as the
Dawn Jani Birley: United States, which does a better job
Dawn Jani Birley: in representing our community
Dawn Jani Birley: in the media.
Dawn Jani Birley: We consider ourselves a linguistic minority,
Dawn Jani Birley: and here in Canada our voice
Dawn Jani Birley: is very weak.
Dawn Jani Birley: In The United States,
Dawn Jani Birley: there are many more programs that
Dawn Jani Birley: offer a diverse representation
Dawn Jani Birley: of deaf people acting alongside
Dawn Jani Birley Bi: hearing casts.
Dawn Jani Birley: I believe that this is a one in a lifetime
Dawn Jani Birley: event here in Canada.
Dawn Jani Birley: Most of my professional work has
Dawn Jani Birley: taken place in Europe.
Dawn Jani Birley: There is more open-mindedness
Dawn Jani Birley: in Europe. There Is more willingness
Dawn Jani Birley: to take a risk,
Dawn Jani Birley: to take a chance,
Dawn Jani Birley: to try something a little bit outside the box
Dawn Jani Birley: and a little bit new.
Dawn Jani Birley And so, that's where my experience is.
Dawn Jani Birley: I'm really delighted to see that
Dawn Jani Birley: this has really taken
Dawn Jani Birley: off here in Canada.
Dawn Jani Birley: It's a radical idea what we're doing in
Dawn Jani Birley: 'Prince Hamlet'.
Dawn Jani Birley: It's what we call intersectional
Dawn Jani Birley: theatre and I'm really really proud of what
Dawn Jani Birley: we've put together.
Tom Power: In this intersectional theatre,
Tom Power: you're in an incredibly important
Tom Power: role! You're Horatio... you're
Tom Power: the narrator. What does it mean to you personally
Tom Power: to be taking on such a crucial role in
Tom Power: this play?
Dawn Jani Birley: Well, at first I didn't really know what
Dawn Jani Birley: I was getting into! I had to say "Sure!
Dawn Jani Birley: Cast me as Horatio, I'm in!" First
Dawn Jani Birley: day of production came.
Dawn Jani Birley: We came together in rehearsal.
Dawn Jani Birley: Ravi Jain, our director,
Dawn Jani Birley: and I were working
Dawn Jani Birley: together to try
Dawn Jani Birley: and imagine what this story might be
Dawn Jani Birley: like... how we were going to tell this story
Dawn Jani Birley: in this way.
Dawn Jani Birley: As Horatio, I am the storyteller
Dawn Jani Birley: of this production
Dawn Jani Birley: and I realized as we were going
Dawn Jani Birley: through, the enormity of that responsibility.
Dawn Jani Birley: As a deaf
Dawn Jani Birley: person, I feel that
Dawn Jani Birley: we don't have a lot of voice
Dawn Jani Birley: and many people aren't interested in our stories.
Dawn Jani Birley: Now I have the opportunity
Dawn Jani Birley: that, Hamlet, in the play has asked
Dawn Jani Birley: me, Horatio, to tell the world
Dawn Jani Birley: this story. At the end of the play, Hamlet reaches to Horatio
Dawn Jani Birley: and says "Tell the world my story." To me, that's a
Dawn Jani Birley: gift of empowerment that I am
Dawn Jani Birley: entrusted... Horatio was entrusted by
Dawn Jani Birley: Hamlet to tell this story.
Dawn Jani Birley: As a deaf character
Dawn Jani Birley: and a deaf performer,
Dawn Jani Birley: it gives a new perspective on
Dawn Jani Birley: storytelling. I think that many people have
Dawn Jani Birley: heard it, and now we're challenging them to also
Dawn Jani Birley: see these stories...
Dawn Jani Birley: And that there are so many ways to communicate,
Dawn Jani Birley: and so many ways to tell
Dawn Jani Birley: a story. And this is ours.