// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
KT Tunstall returns to the Fringe 30 years on with ground-breaking musical
KT Tunstall lost her hearing in one side in 2018 so the project is close to her heart
Ten years ago, theatre-maker Cora Bissett attended a showcase at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS).
She was there to see some of the first graduates in the Performance in British Sign Language (BSL) and English degree. Among them was one performer who really stood out.
"He was signing his music but it was much more than interpretation of the music," she recalls.
"He was inhabiting the music through his whole body."
Theatre-maker Cora Bissett collaborated on the show with Tunstall
That student was Jamie Rea. During the pandemic, he would go on to collaborate with Cora on a short film called The Singer.
It tells the story of a deaf musician who forms an unlikely partnership with a washed-up busker.
The pair have now expanded that into a full-length show, working with Aberdeen Performing Arts, Dundee Rep and Solar Bear, a theatre company which works with both deaf and hearing performers.
Their creative director, Jennifer Bates, describes it as "a significant moment" for the Scottish theatre landscape, integrating deaf and hearing cast and crew.