I’ve been involved in local theatre in Aberystwyth for, well, let’s just say quite a while now and leave it at that...

Audiences have enjoyed the plays, musicals and pantomimes - or so they’ve told me - but until recently, they haven’t been accessible to the Deaf community.

Thanks to a collaboration between the Wardens pantomime group and Aberystwyth Arts Centre, I was introduced to the incredible Tony Evans a few years ago, and our pantomimes have included a signed performance with him ever since.

Company members look forward to Tony’s visit. His energy and enthusiasm for our show is incredible, and if we ask him to take part in the action, or put on a panto hat as he works hard at the side of the stage signing, he is always polite and obliging.

But I have been wondering what the experience is like for him, and what he thinks his participation in our show means for inclusivity and the Deaf community in the area, so I asked him.

Speaking to the Cambrian News and introducing himself to readers unfamiliar with him and his work, he said: “I’m Tony Evans – and for the best part of 35 years, I have waved my hands around for a living!

“That’s how my dad described it, until one day he came and saw me interpreting at a church service for a group of Deaf Catholics, praying just like he did every Sunday morning, but they had never ‘heard’ their priest talk.

“British Sign Language (BSL) is a novelty to most people and as such is often fascinating, but for the Deaf community, it is a lifeline.

“As a Registered Interpreter, I work in situations where hearing people can’t sign and Deaf people can’t hear/talk. It’s that simple. Deaf people have babies, register their babies, have medical appointments, enrol in schools, play sports, get married, learn to drive, etc, AND they go to the theatre!

“The older generation I work with would tell me of the hours they sat watching Charlie Chaplin or The Keystone Cops – slapstick comedy in a silent era where the action told the story. The introduction of ‘talkies’ meant a shift from dramatic action to more oral storytelling, a world that left Deaf people out.

“My work in theatre accounts for about 10 per cent of my employment, although it’s a very visible 10 per cent. From classical theatre and opera to Tom Jones concerts or pantomime, the range is wide and varied, but so is the Deaf community!

“Recently, I compared a theatre interpreter to Ginger Rodgers - it's not quite everything the cast does, only backwards and in high heels, but it is everything they do but simultaneously in a different language, whilst trying to enable the audience who rely on a visual language to simultaneously see the important action, glances, facial expression, visual clues, special effects, etc, that the hearing audience get to enjoy.

“And that really does sum it up quite nicely! My aim is that people who are relying on BSL get an equivalent experience, get their monies worth! I don’t want Deaf children at a panto to be looking around wondering why the hearing kids are laughing, but that means being inventive. “Many jokes are puns – they're funny because the sound of two or more words is similar enough to make them interchangeable. Change the language to German, French or a signed language and that pun is no longer funny!

“In my experience, when faced with a bunch of school children using BSL surrounded by hearing children laughing at puns, a f*rt joke will always create experiential equity!

“Theatre companies that embrace the use of a sign language interpreter will always gain my admiration. My annual trip to Aberystwyth to work with the Wardens definitely falls into this category. Their commitment to providing opportunities for families to watch the Christmas show together is so valuable. There are not many interpreted events in the area, so it is even more appreciated by the local BSL community.”

Recalling how he came to learn sign language, Tony said: “When I left school at 18 I went to Birmingham to college, from Pembrokeshire.

“College and I didn’t really rub along too well, but while I was in Birmingham I discovered the Deaf church and also a rugby club with a deaf guy in and a friend who was a social worker for the deaf and, as it turned out, the chairman of the rugby club was the chairman of the Birmingham Deaf Centre. When he saw me learning some sign language, he basically said he thought I was a natural at this and introduced me to a course and set me along that path and I never looked back.”

Tony can be seen signed numerous shows at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

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