People of the Eye

Erin Siobhan Hutching returns to Edinburgh this year with The Deaf and Hearing Ensemble to deliver a heartfelt production on the challenges of raising a deaf child. Hutching’s sister is deaf, and so she grew up as a signer, revisiting the language in this light-hearted but poignant inquiry into communication and the performativity of signing.

People of the Eye’s greatest strength is that signing is built right into its DNA. Hutching is joined by Emily Howlett, the two playing a range of characters, from parents and doctors to schoolkids and teachers. At first, they’re confused as to why their daughter isn’t responding to their words. As she goes to school, bullying provides fresh heartbreak and misunderstanding before she is able to rejoice in the playfulness of signing as she grows up.

There are some clear issues to work on here. The story of the sisters is, by far, the most interesting storyline and could be told with finer clarity and dedication. The play is also slightly wonky, and the fluency of its scenes could be strengthened. For instance, when we dip out of the narrative to take part in moments of audience interaction—such as learning some basic sign language (a nice touch, but a little jarring)—it’s tough to settle back into the characters’ lives.

There are challenging companies such as Graeae making work that is both accessible yet theatrically complex. While People of the Eye employs a rich combination of surtitles, music and imagery to facilitate its storytelling, a greater experiment with form is required.