When love is deaf

As Disability Now lands on your mat, the BBC is preparing to broadcast a play featuring two well-known deaf actors in a production about the depth of love. Paul Carter reports

This month, BBC Radio 4 will air a pioneering play focused around the story of two deaf characters.

Based on a true story, Shall I Say a Kiss? is the title of a book of letters written between Morris Davis and Eva Weintrobe in the 1930s. Discovered by the couple’s son Lennard Davis after the death of his parents, the letters afforded a fascinating glimpse into their courtship. Morris Davis was born deaf in 1898 in Whitechapel. He moved to New York in 1924. On a visit to the UK in 1935, he saw a photo of Eva Weintrobe, also deaf. He went to Liverpool to meet her, and after four meetings, Morris proposed. Eva accepted, but before they could arrange a date, Morris had to go back to New York. So the letters and challenges began. Could he bring Eva to America and marry her there? Would he be able to support her? And most pressingly, would U.S. Immigration accept her?

The play will feature leading deaf actors David Bower (pictured) and Emily Howlett, and Miriam Margolyes. There will also be a sign language version of the play, a collaboration between Signdance Theatre International and BBC Cymru Wales, on the BBC website, while the play script will also be online.

Deaf actress Emily Howlett, who plays Eva in the production, told Disability Now that she was excited by the prospect of taking the opportunity to bring deaf culture into the mainstream – for deaf and hearing people alike.

So in what way is this play so special and unique?

“The fact that it is closely based on a true story - in that the dialogue is taken directly from the actual letters – means that it has a powerful impact on the audience,” says Emily.

“When you also take into account that it deals with recent Deaf history, it is giving Deaf audiences an insight into their history as well as opening the Deaf culture out and making it accessible and interesting to hearing listeners. But most importantly, it is a fantastic story about the emotional and physical journeys one couple face for love.

“As soon as I saw the script I wanted to be involved – the attitude of the director and crew was spot on and their determination to give a realistic and genuine telling of Eva and Morris’s story showed real forward thinking. The story itself attracted me; I felt a real connection with Eva and it is always lovely to escape into an old-fashioned romance!”

Emily says that it is refreshing that a broadcaster with power and reach such as the BBC is willing to embrace a story about deafness and disability, and hopes it will be a springboard to other representative dramas in the future.

“The Deaf community has always had a strong arts and performance base, but this is definitely becoming more widespread and recognised in the mainstream, although funding cuts will of course affect this as they affect all areas,” she says.

As is often the case, and particularly within these pages, the conversation turns to the opportunities available for deaf and disabled actors.

“It is extremely positive that the BBC are looking to tell stories such as this, and fully integrate Deaf and disabled actors, but it is important to see this as a starting point, not the end goal. More and more please!

“In real life, Deaf and disabled people live among everyone else in a perfectly ‘normal’ way. It is important that this level of inclusion is portrayed realistically in the arts and entertainment; especially in this age of such widespread media. This cannot be done by using Deaf/disabled actors as a last resort; they should be seen as being on a level footing with all other actors. There is an awful lot of immense talent out there which the world is missing out on purely because of close-mindedness, and it’s only through efforts such as these at the BBC that this will continue to change for the better.”

• Shall I Say A Kiss? will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday 28 June at 2.15pm and available to listen to for a week afterwards at bbc.co.uk/radio4/afternoonplay