Mel

The adopted child of hearing parents, Mel is partially deaf and not happy about it. To her, the Deaf world is a ghetto and she has no intention of getting trapped in it. She rejects any attempt by other students to make her more politically sensitive and aware. Her way out is to choose hearing boyfriends and develop her ability to function in the hearing world. She is very self-aware and conscious of the effect she has on men. When she's feeling insecure, she hunts out weakness in others and exploits it. Too much fast living means she neglects her coursework at college.

Deaf actress Sarah Beauvoisin, who plays Mel, recently appeared in Ray Harrison Graham's production of The Dreamcatcher, where she gained experience in dance, mime, mask and physical theatre. She was in the cast of Graeae Theatre's children's play Message in a Bottle, followed by a BBC Radio 4 solo drama, Nobody's Perfect. Her other acting credits include two BBC short films, Boom Boom Clap and A Short Trip, the lead role in Interplay Theatre's Stepping Stones, the empress in Hoxton Hall's The Emperor's New Clothes, and the parts of Helena and Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. She also played the lead role in Children of a Lesser God, for which she won an award.

A certified PADI Advanced Open Water scuba-diver, Sarah has certificates for skydiving, bungee-jumping and white-water rafting and loves taking part in extreme sports.

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