Signing the Bard

Kennedy C. MacKinnon is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Link Canada, a company that is working with LKTYP to create a version of Romeo and Juliet using both spoken and sign language.

I was at the end of my high school career back in the early 90’s and I vividly remember coming to LKTYP to see MacBeth directed by Maja Ardal and starring Rick Roberts as the Scottish King. I remember sitting in the theatre being swept away by the magic of the story. I remember thinking, “one day, I want to work at this theatre on Shakespeare. I want to be a part of that making that kind of magic”.

Two decades later I find myself at the end of what can only be called two of the most inspiring weeks I have ever spent in a studio. And guess what? I was working on Shakespeare, here at LKTYP in preparation for a bilingual production that I have a very good feeling will be magic.

Not long after I saw that production of MacBeth I graduated from theatre school and my passion for Shakespeare took me to the UK with my great friend and colleague Edward Daranyi. We had the privilege of working with our now sister company Shakespeare Link on their first hearing/deaf workshop of MacBeth (now isn’t that serendipity). Our job, as actors, was to help make the text clear so that the deaf actors could create the signs to translate the text into British Sign language (BSL). It was an incredible experience. We were both challenged and inspired as we fought to literally make new words in BSL. I have continued to work in the UK with Shakespeare Link translating into BSL and then shooting to DVD Shakespeare’s plays. To date they have four plays and a lot of the sonnets translated onto DVDs, which are in the school system allowing deaf students long overdue access to these plays.

During this time I couldn’t help but wonder…what if, we put both sign language and spoken text on the stage at the same time? I kept thinking that although deaf audiences have occasional access to these plays through the help of interpreters on the side of the stage, what if the story was simply spoken in their language. Hearing and deaf people fall in love all the time. Why couldn’t Romeo be deaf and Juliet hearing or vice versa? And why wouldn’t an audience be interested to see and hear that story told?

So, in 2006 I gathered a company of actors to explore this possibility. We looked at a variety of ways to tell the story in both languages; shadowing, double casting, one person signing while another spoke. In the end, I discovered that the idea not only worked but it was compelling, alive and deeply moving. It allowed the story to come to life in a whole new way.

As with many theatrical endeavors funding issues slowed our process down. But the dream of Signing the Bard (what the project was fondly referred to as) Romeo and Juliet continued to grow. I knew I needed to find a company that could work with us to develop this production. And then it hit me. LKTYP! I was so thrilled when Allen enthusiastically agreed. Not only had this theatre inspired me as a young audience member but I had spent my summers throughout my theatre school training here teaching for the Theatre School. I am incredibly grateful to now come full circle and be working my artistic chops inside these walls.

So, with three workshops now under our belt we have a core artistic company experienced in breaking down the text and developing new signs for the language, a cut version of the play (so that we can run the show at 90 minutes), an almost complete translation into ASL and an unstoppable passion to tell this story in a new way. And I can’t tell you how excited I am for next fall when we will spend three weeks developing a workshop production here at LKTYP. Magic!


KENNEDY C. MACKINNON is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Link Canada and is affiliated with the Shakespeare Link in the UK. She is an actor, director, coach and teacher. Most recently she created and directed With Love, Will Shakespeare a commissioned play for the Sunnybrook Veteran’s Residence and co-directed/co-adapted the NAC/NEPA production of Death of the Chief. With SLC she created and directed Hamlet, Alone and Drowning Ophelia for the Shakespeare Link International Festival in Wales, and has co-directed three workshops of Signing the Bard – Romeo and Juliet. She spearheaded The Africa Project: Dance with Us, Not with AIDS and was co-creator/co-director of Romeo and Juliet, Medida Por Medida (Measure for Measure), A Tempestade and Sonho Nocturno – Dream at Night and is very excited about SLC’s continued partnership with Montes Namuli in Mozambique.
Kennedy has been Head of the Voice at the Humber College Theatre School for the past ten years where she also taught Shakespeare. She is the creator and coordinator of the Summer Shakespeare Intensive. She spent 3 seasons at the Stratford Festival of Canada as a Voice Coach where she had the privilege to apprentice under the guidance of Janine Pearson. She has taught for the Education Department in Stratford for 9 years. She is a graduate from the Stratford Conservatory for Classical Theatre Training where she also taught. She is joining the coaching team again this season. Kennedy has taught and given workshops for Native Earth Theatre, Centre for Indigenous Theatre, George Brown Theatre School, Equity Showcase Theatre/Player’s Academy, University of Windsor, York University, Randolph School for the Performing Arts, YPT and the National Voice Intensive.
She coaches for film, television, radio and at theatres around Toronto. In Denver, Colorado, Kennedy interned as assistant to Gary Logan (Head of Voice and Speech) at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts/ National Theater Conservatory. She holds an MFA in Acting, a Diploma in Voice Teacher Training (York University) and a BFA in Acting (University of Windsor).