Quite a few Belgian "sign language speakers" use Flemish or Walloon sign language to communicate with each other. While translations from the hearing community to the deaf community are increasingly commonplace, the reverse translation is almost never done. And if there is ever a leading role for a deaf actor on stage, as in Auber's opera The mute of Portici, they are represented in a stereotypical way.
How can we reverse roles and give the silent world an equal place in the performing arts landscape and society? How can fully-fledged gestural theatre texts be developed that transcend stereotypical portrayal? How can The Whale with its deep bass vibrations be used as an interpreter to facilitate communication between hearing and deaf people? Dramaturgical builds Portici further on the research findings of Libretto reading #13: The Mute of Portici.
