The project will bring together leading regional cultural organisations, artists and community partners to explore the rich history, creativity and cultural significance of BSL while highlighting the barriers still faced by deaf and disabled people today.
At the heart of the project is the story of a historic wedding at Leicester Cathedral, the first held in England with sign language 450 years ago, which will inspire a programme of performance, participation and artistic commissions co-created by deaf artists, deaf communities and young people.
The Cathedral will work in partnership with Curve Theatre, Derby Deaf Youth Theatre, and Art Reach to deliver two major strands of activity across Leicester and the wider Midlands, building on activity and relationships built with the community with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Young People Explore Deaf Identity Through Performance
Curve Theatre’s Young Community Company (CYCC) Dance group will bring together 50 young people from Years 7 to 13 to co-create and perform a new piece exploring communication, identity and deaf culture.
The work will be developed over eight weeks with deaf actor Donna Mullings and Stacey McCarthy, a specialist in integrating BSL into performance. Young people from CYCC will collaborate with members of Derby Deaf Youth Theatre, creating a powerful and inclusive performance that places sign language not simply as a means of accessibility, but as a creative and cultural language in its own right.
The resulting performance will be showcased at Leicester Cathedral in November 2026 as part of a day of activities including artist-led workshops and participation from deaf charity partners. Additional pop-up performances will take place at Curve Theatre, Leicester Haymarket Shopping Centre and Derby Theatre.
Other members of the Young Community Company will respond creatively to the wedding story through writing and other artistic media, with their work shared both online and in print.
Commissioning Deaf Artists and Amplifying Deaf Voices
The second strand of the project will see Art Reach launch an open call for a deaf artist to create a new artwork entitled Signs of Story.
Co-created with members of the deaf community, the work will explore how stories, cultures and identities are passed between generations and will respond to the historic exclusion of deaf people from cultural and heritage spaces.
The artwork will be exhibited at Leicester Cathedral from 18 January to 14 February 2027 before touring to locations across the Midlands, sharing this important story with wider audiences and creating new opportunities for deaf artists to showcase their work in heritage and cultural settings.
A Commitment to Accessibility and Inclusion
While heritage spaces attract diverse audiences, deaf artists remain significantly underrepresented in commissioned artistic work. This project seeks to address that imbalance by placing deaf perspectives, experiences and creativity at its centre.
By bringing together artists, young people and community organisations, Leicester Cathedral hopes to raise awareness of BSL as a language and culture, while creating meaningful opportunities for deaf and hearing participants to learn from one another.
The Very Revd Karen Rooms, Dean of Leicester, said:
“We are thrilled to receive this support from Arts Council England for a project that places deaf voices, stories and creativity at its heart.
“Leicester Cathedral is committed to being a place where everyone feels welcome and represented. This project will celebrate British Sign Language as a vibrant language and cultural tradition while creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration between deaf and hearing communities. We are excited to work alongside our partners to share this important history and help shape a more inclusive future.”
About Derby Deaf Youth Theatre
DDYT is a fully accessible theatre group for young people aged 10-18 who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, and their friends or siblings.
The group is a perfect opportunity to develop confidence, range of expression and performance skills, run and supported by professional practitioners where BSL communication and interpretation will be provided at each session.
https://derbytheatre.co.uk/programme/deaf-youth-theatre/
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About Leicester Cathedral
Leicester Cathedral is the beating heart of the City and County and the final resting place of King Richard III. Our church, built on a Roman site and dedicated to St Martin of Tours, has been embedded in the public, economic, cultural, and religious life of this community for 1,000 years. Becoming Leicester’s Cathedral in 1927, as the seat of the Bishop of Leicester we now gather people together for worship, celebration, lament, debate, and service of the poor and vulnerable.
We offer hospitality to the wider church, the communities of faith that make up our multicultural society, and those who come as visitors to the East Midlands, especially in search of the story of Richard III.
About Curve Theatre
Curve is Leicester’s award-winning producing theatre. Through its Creative Programmes and Young Community Company, Curve engages thousands of participants each year in creative opportunities designed to inspire, develop skills and widen access to the arts.
About Art Reach
Art Reach is a Leicester-based arts charity dedicated to increasing access to arts and culture by developing diverse audiences, supporting artists from underrepresented communities and delivering ambitious creative projects across Britain.
About Derby Deaf Youth Theatre
DDYT is a fully accessible theatre group for young people aged 10-18 who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, and their friends or siblings.
The group is a perfect opportunity to develop confidence, range of expression and performance skills, run and supported by professional practitioners where BSL communication and interpretation will be provided at each session.
Arts Council England
We are the national development agency for creativity and culture. We help people in every corner of the country to experience and benefit from creativity.
We do this by investing in artists and organisations that make and deliver exceptional, inspirational work for our communities.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
Follow @HeritageFundUK on X/Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund