Deaf Republic

A gunshot in occupied territory. A soldier shoots a deaf boy in a public square. The next day, the whole town wakes up deaf, refusing to hear the soldiers, teaching one another a sign language of resistance. From that premise, drawn from Ilya Kaminsky‘s acclaimed poetic narrative, Dublin’s Dead Centre and Sign Language poet Zoë McWhinney build one of the most striking imports of the season: a fable of occupation in which silence becomes both a hiding place and an act of defiance. A deaf and hearing ensemble lead a production that folds sign language, puppetry, live cinema, and music into a single charged form, turning quiet itself into something political. Fresh from its acclaimed premiere at London’s Royal Court, where it was named as one of The Stage‘s top shows of 2025, Deaf Republic is theater of rare invention and rare feeling, holding a whole town’s refusal to listen up against a world that will not stop shouting.