A special service will be offered this year at the Brothers Grimm Festival in Hanau: For the deaf and hard-of-hearing audience, a complete play will be translated into sign language. Two sign language interpreters standing next to the stage will be interpreting the Grimm fairy tale “The Princess and the Pea” on 1 July (2:00 pm). This is a unique service in theater festivals in Hesse, said the city, which costs the project several thousand euros.

Last year, the organizers offered this kind of service for the first time at the festival. Since the idea was so well received, now it is done again. The offer aims to lift a communicative barrier and enable deaf adults and children to take an active part in public cultural life. Hanau is taking on a pioneering role in Hesse, Intendant Frank-Lorenz Engel said.

Sign language consists of hand signals from facial expressions and posture. It has a comprehensive vocabulary and an independent grammar.

Translated from German: Gebärden-Dolmetscherinnen übersetzen Theaterstück