Zoe McWhinney - Visual Vernacular Masterclass - Different Owners At Sunrise

Zoo Co was thrilled to work with renowned deaf poet, writer, Visual Vernacular performer and actor Zoe McWhinney on Laurie Ogden's beautiful play, Different Owners at Sunrise at Roundhouse.
Different Owners At Sunrise was an Associate Project for Zoo Co, produced by Grace Dickson Productions. Flo O'Mahony was the director, and Fleur Rooth was the Access Manager. We also brought in our network of brilliant deaf creatives to work on this project with Laurie as the lead artist.
Zoe McWhinney was the Visual Vernacular consultant on the production, collaborating with lead performer Katie Erich, and choreographer Chris Fonseca, to devise Visual Vernacular/ BSL translations of the poetry scenes in Laurie's play.
The devising and translation process was stunning, and involved true artistry from all collaborators. Here, Zoe unpacks the process of translating poetry into highly visual sign language, sharing her process.
Visual Vernacular is specifically a deaf-led cultural form, developed by deaf artists and storytellers. We recommend always working with deaf creatives and performers if you are using it in your productions.