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Paula Garfield is 34 and is a freelance drama workshop leader, story-teller, actor and presenter. We talked to her about her life and her work, and about the film she made for Pulse.
'I grew up in a lovely hearing family with my twin deaf sister, who is a very talented photographer and now works with a media company,' Paula told VEE-TV. 'We both went to an oral school, where I found it very difficult to learn because all the teachers were unable to sign. It was such hard work to lipread teachers all day from 9am to 3.30pm. It was no wonder that when I left school, I had very low self-confidence and couldn't do academic jobs. So I ended up working in an old people's day centre for a year.'
In the meantime Paula got involved with a deaf drama club called London Deaf Drama. Then a friend told her about the Theatre of the Deaf course at Bulmershe College, Reading University. 'I applied for that course and got a place,' says Paula. 'I haven't looked back since!'
For the last 10 years Paula has worked with many different theatre companies: the Derby Playhouse, the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, the Solent People's Theatre in Southampton, the Palace Theatre in Watford, the Unicorn Theatre in London, the Trestle Theatre Company in St Albans and many more.
When she heard about the Pulse film slot, she decided to send in her idea, and was chosen to make a film. She explains: 'The reason I wanted to make a film about a young boy going to oral deaf school where signing is not allowed was to make sure that no one forgets what the older generation had been though, and the fight for our rights. It is so important to remember this, as it is our part of deaf history. The young generation have no experience of what it is like to have signing banned in school.
'Also it is so important to keep a record of our history in writing or on video or in a play – something we can keep and look back at again and again. We just started to keep our history alive very recently, and we need to keep going, not forget the past. I noticed that more deaf people are starting to write about their own experience in books, but they're not making videos or writing plays.
'I want to leave the audience with questions in their head after seeing
my film – make them want to find out more about deaf lives. That
is the aim of my film.'
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Deaf Century by Norma McGilp (Channel 4, 1999)
£1
This booklet, written by VEE-TV producer Norma McGilp, traces the history
of deaf people in the UK from the dark days of the 1900s to the struggle
for the recognition of British Sign Language and the debate about cochlear
implants. A variety of deaf people talk about their own experiences, and
there are profiles of many more. Phone Channel 4 Booklet Orderline on
0870 544 6699 (UK only) or send a cheque/postal order, made payable to
Channel 4 Television, along with a return address, to: Deaf Century, PO
Box 4000, Manchester M60 3LL.
When the Mind Hears: A history of the deaf by Harlan
Lane (Penguin Books, 1997) £6.99
A comprehensive history of deaf people, revealing the prejudice and oppression
they faced under the oralist regime, as seen through the eyes of Laurent
Clerc, a 19th-century French teacher of the deaf.
Access2Arts
www.egroups.com/group/access2arts
A forum for information and feedback, for deaf people, on access to
the arts and theatre in the UK.
The Deaf Directory
www.yagc.demon.co.uk/Deaf/Deaf.html
US-based website offers information on deaf arts and deaf theatre,
as well as deaf history and sign language.
Contacts
Dorothy Miles Cultural Centre
Broad Fields
7 Southern Way
Farnborough
Hants GU14 0RE
Tel: 01483 427616
E-mail: lizb007@aol.com
Contact for information about BSL and art/drama workshops for deaf and
hearing children and adults.
Graeae Theatre Company
Interchange Studios
Hampstead Town Hall Centre
213 Haverstock Hill
London NW3 4QP
Tel: 020 7681 4755
Text: 020 7681 4757
Fax: 020 7681 4756
E-mail: info@graeae.org
Website: www.graeae.org
Theatre company run by and for disabled people. Contact for information
about theatre training and writing opportunities for deaf and disabled
people, as well as touring productions.
Graphic version
Includes layout and images.