Deaf actor hopes new role will inspire and educate

Ciaran O'Breen said his 12-year-old self would "probably just not believe" that he had a starring role at Bristol Old Vic

A deaf actor hopes his new role will inspire others who communicate differently to get into the performing arts.

Ciaran O’Breen will perform his first professional role in his home city of Bristol as a character who communicates via British Sign Language (BSL), physicality and visual vernacular (VV).

The 23-year-old said he hopes his upcoming performance in Wonder Boy at Bristol Old Vic will "encourage more deaf awareness".

Director Sally Cookson said the play aims to be accessible to all audiences, and described Mr O'Breen as "a visual master".

Wonder Boy, by Ross Willis, explores the power of communication told through the experiences of 12-year-old Sonny, a young artist who stammers, and his imaginary friend Captain Chatter, played by Mr O'Breen.

The actor said it was "no issue" that he was not using spoken English and instead using visual communication

Mr O'Breen won a place on an acting workshop aged 15 and went on to meet other deaf performers who inspired him to get into the arts as a career.

He then joined Bristol Old Vic youth theatre which provided him with an interpreter.

He explained it was "really important" to him that he would be performing the play to audience members who could hear.

"I want to encourage more deaf awareness in general, so audiences have this greater understanding that there are various ways of telling stories, various ways of depicting messages," said Mr O'Breen.

"Lots of people say you can't hear, you can't speak, how can you be on stage? But it's quite simple really because I just do everything with the help of visual cues.

"It's really important to show my beautiful language... and to show my culture to the audience."

Sally Cookson described Mr O'Breen as "a visual master"

Ms Cookson said: "One of the major themes of the play is communication.

"We're being very mindful of how we communicate, which I'm thoroughly enjoying."

Wonder Boy uses creative captioning, so every word in the script is projected onto the stage.

Ms Cookson added: "I'm loving it, I'm learning so much. I think what it makes us do is listen and watch much more carefully."

The character of Sonny is "made to feel as though he's got a defect and actually all he has is a different way of communicating", explained Ms Cookson, who has been learning BSL.

The director said of Mr O'Breen: "He's a very bright talent and I think we should feel very proud that we've got him here at the Old Vic."

Mr O'Breen has been teaching some of the hearing actors BSL

Mr O'Breen said he hoped he would inspire other young people who "might want to become and actor or actress in the future".

He said he was feeling "a bit of trepidation" ahead of his first show, "but also excitement".

"My mum's going to be sitting in the audience so I can't look in that direction," he added.

Wonder Boy is at Bristol Old Vic from 6 September to 21 September before going on tour.