Royal Court Theatre and Dead Centre, in association with Dublin Theatre Festival and Complicité, have announced the full cast and creative team for their upcoming production of Deaf Republic.
Adapted from the acclaimed book by Ukrainian-American author Ilya Kaminsky, Deaf Republic is co-written and directed by Dead Centre’s Artistic Directors Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd, with co-writing by Sign Language Poet Zoë McWhinney.
The cast includes Romel Belcher, Leo Bill, Caoimhe Coburn Gray, Derbhle Crotty, Kate Finegan, Eoin Gleeson and Lisa Kelly.
The creative team features Jeremy Herbert (set design), Mae Leahy (costume design), Azusa Ono (lighting design), and Kevin Gleeson (composer and sound design). Video direction is by Grant Gee, with puppetry by Cillian O’Donnachadha and aerial consultation by Kat Cooley. Liam Rees joins as assistant director.
Dramaturgy is provided by Lydia Gratis for Dead Centre and Jess Latowicki for Royal Court Theatre.
A gunshot in occupied territory. A deaf boy is killed for disobeying orders he couldn’t hear. The next day, the whole town wakes up deaf.
This powerful narrative is brought to life through a blend of spoken English, sign language, creative captioning and silence. Deaf Republic unites deaf and hearing actors, aerial performers, puppetry, live cinema and poetry to create a modern fable of war, humanity and resistance.
The production marks Dead Centre’s Royal Court debut and continues their tradition of bold, genre-defying theatre.
Deaf Republic runs at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from Friday 29 August to Saturday 13 September 2025, with a press night on Thursday 4 September. It then transfers to the Samuel Beckett Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival from Wednesday 1 October to Sunday 5 October 2025.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
