Birmingham Rep
Staged by Deafinitely Theatre, Eloise Pennycott’s play sets romance against a broken, unjust system
Barrier(s) is a queer love story about a couple with vastly different experiences of the world. Alana (Em Prendergast) is hearing, while Katie (Zoë McWhinney) is deaf. Created by Deafinitely Theatre, which blends British Sign Language and spoken English, the play moves from the initial awkwardness of their first meeting at a kids’ party, through Alana’s early missteps, into a big, heart-on-sleeve portrait of their relationship’s highs and lows.
Eloise Pennycott’s script unfolds episodically: one year, Alana struggles with the basics of BSL; the next, the couple sign to each other with ease. From the outset, electricity runs between them, shown best in quiet sections of movement directed by Raffie Julien. McWhinney and Prendergast build Katie and Alana’s relationship into one of tenderness and care. Each look is charged by their connection, and there’s a lot of laughter between them, too.
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