Translating Shakespeare in Sign Language
A public lecture delivered by Jill Marie Bradbury
Booking and details
Reserve Your SpotDates Thu, Dec 3, 2026, 4pm
Venue Folger Theatre
Tickets Free; registration requested
Duration 90 minutes
This program will be in American Sign Language and Spoken English.
How have Deaf actors negotiated translation across the history of Shakespeare in sign language? What unique skills must Deaf Shakespearean actors bring to their work? How do hearing audiences respond to seeing, as well as hearing, the words performed? And what does this reveal about the assumptions they bring to Shakespearean performance?
These questions are explored in a public lecture as part of the Folger Institute’s workshop series on “Reimagining Shakespeare through ASL Poetics.” Although the workshops are limited to accepted applicants, anyone is welcome to attend this free lecture, delivered by Jill Marie Bradbury, a Deaf scholar and professor in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD).
In 2016, Bradbury was the project director for the DC stop of the Folger’s national tour, First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare, in partnership with the American Library Association and Cincinnati Museum Center, for which she co-curated the Shakespeare in American Deaf History exhibit.
About the speaker
Jill Marie Bradbury
Jill Marie Bradbury is a Deaf scholar and professor in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). She has received multiple grants from the National Endowment of the Arts and co-authored the award-winning Staging Deaf and Hearing Theatre Productions: A Practical Guide. Other publications include articles on Deaf theater, DeafBlind theater, and Shakespeare in sign language. In 2016, Bradbury was the project director for the DC stop of the First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare national tour, sponsored by the Folger Shakespeare Library, American Library Association, and Cincinnati Museum Center, for which she co-curated the Shakespeare in American Deaf History exhibit. She is currently working on an adaptation and translation of Much Ado About Nothing, to be produced by Inside Out Theatre (Calgary, CA) in 2028.
About Folger Institute
The Folger Institute is a center for early modern research at the Folger Shakespeare Library that brings public audiences together with researchers to explore the cultures and legacies of the early modern world. Learn more
Related
Listen to our 2016 interview with Jill Bradbury on the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast.
Shakespeare in Sign Language
Many people would probably tell you that what they love most about Shakespeare is his language. So, what does Shakespeare become when the words are translated into a different language, one that uses visual signs rather than spoken words?