Dewsbury theatre company to offer live on-stage sign-language

The Acorn Theatre Company have announced that their next show, Fame, will include on-stage sign language interpreters to give the hearing impaired a chance to enjoy their wares.

The company was started by Cevin Barker and his wife Sarah is based out of their Oak Tree Studios HQ and boasts a talented cast of West Yorkshire children.

Sarah is looking forward to offering the deaf community better access to performances they wouldn’t otherwise be able to enjoy.

She said: “It’s all about making theatre as open as possible to as many people as possible and this is all part of that.

“It’s not really something that’s been done in amateur dramatics too much.

“A lot of big concerts and shows have started doing it in a professional environment but I’m not sure it’s been done at this sort of level before.

“It’s something that we wanted to get involved in. We’d like to lead the way in that respect and give it a go.”

Signed interpretation hit national headlines recently when a deaf woman took legal action against pop megastars Little Mix for failing to provide a fully-signed show.

Yvonne Groom, who works for the Huddersfield Deaf Centre, welcomed the news and said that it’s a positive step forward for the deaf community.

“It’s all in the name of making the theatre accessible to deaf people and that is what art is all about, isn’t it?”

Speaking about the Little Mix debacle, Yvonne praised Acorn’s efforts and said:

“In this day and age these sort of things should be accessible to people no matter what their disability.

“It’s a fabulous idea and I’ll be encouraging people to get along to the shows, for sure.”

Acorn’s Fame will take place at Dewsbury Town Hall from Thursday 19th to Saturday 21st April.