Book Writer and Director: Cora Bissett
Music and Lyrics: KT Tunstall
It says a lot for the good vibes around this fabulously feel-good show that even a 40-minute delay to the start due to technical issues didn’t seem to affect audience goodwill or the cast’s composure. Written and directed by Cora Bissett, with uplifting new songs by KT Tunstall, The Singer originated in a short film and has now evolved into a truly groundbreaking stage experience.
Set in Glasgow, the story features Deaf character Joe (Jamie Rea), whose chance meeting with frustrated musician Andy (Dylan Wood) leads to a creative collaboration and more importantly a path to understanding and sharing each other’s worlds. From the very start, BSL and spoken English are used in a remarkably inclusive and integrated way on stage, supported by an array of captioning screens that are on a different level to the sort of captions normally seen in theatre. These not only present the different languages being used, but are animated, for example pulsing in time to the rhythm when musical lyrics are captioned.
Joe’s Nana and Pops (Hannah Jarrett-Scott and Petre Dobre, who also act as Oracles and other characters) are on hand throughout to comment, interpret and encourage Joe to follow his dream. The performances where BSL and English are combined are stunning – the synergy of vision and sound work tremendously well and feel truly immersive. Jamie Rea and Dylan Wood exude warmth and have great onstage chemistry; Hannah Jarrett-Scott’s range of vocal styles and characters is dizzyingly good, while Petre Dobre, another Deaf performer, is a joy to watch. The show leaves you feeling that ‘hearies’ like me can be part of the solution towards genuine inclusivity, not just part of the problem, which is the sort of optimistic outlook (and challenge) that I think will resonate with many of us right now.
Runs until 30 August 2026 | Image: Contributed
