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RSC's Signing Shakespeare programme: Sign of the rhymes

Looking into ways to translate Shakespeare into British Sign Language for students, Emily Garsin investigates the RSC's Signing Shakespeare programme.
 Stills from the Signing Shakespeare resources
Stills from the Signing Shakespeare resources

Having to translate Shakespeare into British Sign Language is a daunting task for any teacher. Do you translate it literally or do you translate its meaning? This is an issue facing any teacher of the deaf to help their students access a core part of the English syllabus and one Alex McMullan-Bell, a teacher at a school in Barking, found the answer to courtesy of the RSC's Signing Shakespeare initiative. ‘The Signing Shakespeare resources are a godsend for both me and my students. To be able to access resources made with deaf learners in mind easily and for free is a lifesaver,’ he says.

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