A gunshot in occupied territory. A deaf boy is killed for disobeying orders he couldn’t hear. The next day, the whole town wakes up deaf.
Adapted from the poems of Ukrainian-American author Ilya Kaminsky, Deaf Republic is an epic modern fable of war, humanity and collective resistance.
World-renowned theatre company Dead Centre make their Royal Court debut, collaborating with Sign Language poet Zoë McWhinney. Told through a mix of spoken English, British Sign Language (BSL), creative captioning and silence, Deaf Republic brings together an ensemble of deaf and hearing actors, aerial performers, puppetry, live cinema and poetry.
‘A contemporary epic… captures the sweep of history and the devastation of war’ New York Times on Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic
‘A pure theatrical thrill-ride… wildly playful’ The Guardian on Chekhov’s First Play by Dead Centre
Event details
When:
Mon 8 Sep 2025, 7:30 pm – Sat 13 Sep 2025, 7:30 pm
Format: In-person
Venue:
Royal Court Theatre
Sloane Square
London SW1W 8AS
United Kingdom
Cost: From £15
Access & inclusion
- BSL interpreters
- Live captions / STTR
- Wheelchair access
- Hearing loop
More access info
Deaf Republic is intended to be accessible for a range of deaf and hearing audiences, created by an integrated deaf and hearing ensemble.
All performances:
Every performance will include a mixture of signed BSL, creative captioning and spoken English. For deaf audiences, all spoken content will either be signed in BSL or captioned in written English as part of the show’s design, enabling deaf audiences to follow the performance through a combination of signing and captions.
If you would prefer an entirely BSL-signed performance:
On Sat 13 September, the matinee performance will include BSL interpretation of all captions that are not also signed onstage.
If you would prefer an entirely captioned performance:
On Fri 12 September, the performance will include additional captioning of all BSL and spoken English, when there are no integrated creative captions visible on stage.
If you would like to watch the show in a chilled environment:
On Thu 11 September, the chilled performance will include assistance to find the best seats, a relaxed attitude to noise, and the option to exit/re-enter at any time with a live video stream of the performance in a quiet space outside.
If you would like to attend an audio described performance:
On Sat 13 September, the show will be audio described, preceded by a Touch Tour.
Organiser
Royal Court Theatre
