Deaf pupils to receive Shakespeare resources

Teaching resources to make Shakespeare more accessible for deaf students are being sent to all deaf schools in the UK.

The British Theatre Guide reports that the teaching packs are part of the Signing Shakespeare project – a partnership between the University of Birmingham and the Royal Shakespeare Company – which began in May last year.

Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall, Deputy Director of Education and Associate Professor in Shakespeare and Theatre at the Shakespeare Institute, part of the University of Birmingham, said: "There are more than 50,000 deaf children in the UK and Shakespeare is the only named author that all children are required to study in the National Curriculum. 

"But the fact is there aren’t many resources for deaf students studying Shakespeare in school.

“Signing Shakespeare is an educational resource programme which brings together visual and active learning for the study of Macbeth so we can try to address this gap between the teaching provision for hearing and deaf students in school.”