This paper focuses on how sign language has transformed from an ‘accessibility tool’ to the primary language of expression in multilingual, multimodal theatre creation, and how differences in language, perception, and rhythm are transformed into creativity in the collaborative process between Deaf and hearing artists. Through observation and analysis of these collaborative practices, this article aims to reveal the hybrid vocabulary and performance logic that emerge from them, and to further understand their aesthetic potential and cultural and political significance. How does the embodied collaboration between Deaf and hearing artists in theatre creation generate what Homi Bhabha calls the ‘Third Space’—a cultural practice space of continuous negotiation, co-construction of meaning, and regeneration of language and modes of expression?
Zhiling Guo is a theatre facilitator and practitioner with experience working across diverse communities, including Deaf, disabled, children, and women. Her PhD research at the University of Warwick explores how Deaf culture contributes to applied theatre as a working method. She examines the power dynamics that emerge when Deaf and hearing individuals collaborate, focusing on how to establish effective dialogue between these communities. In her work, sign language is not only a language used in daily communication, but also a theatre working method and aesthetics.