A GAELIC speaker and deaf musician is set to embark on a tour of her new show in a bid to bring the language to as wide an audience as possible.
Evie Waddell, 25, is from Stirling and lost her hearing in one ear at age 11.
Having graduated from the Royal Conservatoire with a degree in traditional music, she performed with Gaelic production company Theatre Gu Leòr and is now about to bring her own show to audiences across the country.
Titled Fàilte Gu BSL, the immersive gig-performance-ceilidh aims to ensure that Gaelic is as inclusive a language as possible.
“I guess it’s a bit of a personal thing for me in that I am deaf in one ear so I want to use this language and am now part of the deaf community”, Waddell told The National.
“Some of my deaf friends have never even been to a ceilidh though they’ve lived in Scotland all their life.
“So on top of that I want to share sign language and raise a bit of deaf awareness with the hearing audience.”
The show encompasses a wide variety of signed Gaelic and Scots songs, delving into various aspects of traditional culture.
This ranges from age-old songs about mythical creatures such as Uamh An Oir to more modern works such as Gillebrìde Macmillan’s moving plea for refugees Duan an fhògarraich.
Asked how she would describe her show, Waddell laughs before explaining: “It’s a lot of different things really. I treat it sort of like a music gig with lots of individual pieces and songs that are mainly in Gaelic.
“I’ve made it as visual as possible with a lot of dancing and it has sign language throughout as that was very important to me.”
The first two shows will take place on July 21 and 23 in Stirling and Inverness before a couple of performances at the Fringe.
After two years of hard work, Waddell is excited to finally see everything come together.
“It’s gone through a lot of thought and I’ve gone into different ways to find funding. I am glad to be sharing it because I’ve put a lot of work in speaking to different cast members for research and development and working with deaf and hard-of-hearing artists.
"I no longer feel awkward about being deaf. It’s a part of me. I had an operation aged 11 that I was told might help but that made it worse. There’s nothing to do now and that’s alright.”
On some shows, the singer will be conducting an associated workshop to give the audience a chance to join in.
Waddell explains that she helps to teach Gaelic through sign language. “I am the only person I know who has some British Sign Language and some Gaelic as well so this experience was to try expand that a little bit.
“I had a lot of help in the translation process by working with a Gaelic and BSL consultant. The process of thinking in all three – spoken English, BSL and Gaelic – can get a little confusing sometimes with some of them in your brain and some using your hands.”
She explains that from the informal feedback she’s had thus far, the show is likely to appeal to a younger audience but that this should not put anybody off going.
The show will be performed on the following dates and tickets are available HERE.
- 21st July 2023 – Tolbooth, Stirling
- 23rd July 2023 – Under Canvas, Inverness
- 12th August 2023 – Edinburgh Fringe
- 13th August 2023 – Edinburgh Fringe
- 20th October 2023 – The Mod Fringe, Paisley
