★★★★★

“an evocative and moving story”

‘Cow | Deer’ is a ground-breaking, haunting exploration of humanity’s impact on nature: a wordless theatrical experience unlike anything you’ve ‘seen’.

As autumn’s chilly fingers take hold, ‘Cow | Deer’ beckons you to spend a summer’s day in the life of two animals – one wild and free, the other domesticated. Created entirely with sound, the deer roams the forest looking for berries and water; the cow is pregnant and preparing for birth. Neither can escape human interference: planes roar overhead, cars screech past, dogs crash through protective barriers; the bucolic idyll is quickly shattered. Then the climax: two heartbreaking fates. Human dominance is clear.

Co-created by Katie Mitchell, Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson, this innovative piece pushes the boundaries of theatre. Though staged, it’s aural with nothing to watch save the Foley artists working their magic. Instead, sound IS the show, perhaps most effectively experienced with closed eyes. Though unlike a radio play, it’s fully immersive, a gravel path greeting your feet, the smell of fresh hay in the air. The sound enfolds you, moving dynamically through the space, approaching and retreating from all sides. You feel every step, every raindrop, every fly bite. Little by little, you slip into cow and deer’s world, feeling every shiver, every breath, as if it were your own. I initially wondered if a day in the life of a cow might be a little dry; but the plot hits hard, channelling a flood of emotions and giving these animals a voice without uttering a single word.

Alex Eales’ design is genius. The stage unassumingly displays the Foley materials on a bed of straw, grass, water and stone, accented by Prema Mehta’s soft lighting. You almost don’t notice the array of technical equipment, microphones and sound booths. Soft lighting remains throughout, allowing you to watch these artists in motion if you wish, but encouraging you to drift away and let your mind create the visuals.

The soundscape design by Tom Espiner, Ruth Sullivan and Marie Zschommler and realisation by Espiner, Pandora Colin, Tatenda Matsvai, Ruth Sullivan and Melanie Wilson, is beautifully rich and realistic, combining real field recordings with deft Foley art. Real bird calls and human sounds mix with trees creaking, streams splashing and hooves stamping. Scene changes are grounded by clear shifts in ambient tone. The range of sounds is phenomenally impressive. This is not simply an emulation of the outdoors; expect screaming jet engines, screeching car tyres, and even whooshing from the inside the cow (come see it, you’ll see what I mean). There are unexpectedly funny moments, like the cow’s thunderous wee and cow pats slapping the ground. It weaves together an evocative and moving story, despite the lack of words and visuals.

The cast and sound engineer work seamlessly together, creating impressively complex sounds through an aural ballet. Every moment requires a skilful coordination of whisking, shaking, squelching and striking, simultaneously using multiple Foley materials. It’s breathtaking to watch and so effectively recreates the natural world I can scarcely believe the rustling leaves are the fringes of a glittery pompom.

‘Cow | Deer’ is a compelling and expressive marriage of technology and art, with an important message about nature under siege. As poignant as it is impressive, I urge you to experience this experimental work and ‘see’ things from a new perspective.

DEAF REPUBLIC

Royal Court

★★★★★

“a show that has it all: a resonating war story, impeccable acting, beautiful language and incredible design element”

Deaf Republic, an adaptation of Ilya Kaminsky’s poems, is a piece of theatre that requires time to process and digest. Dead Centre, a theatre company famous for their groundbreaking theatre making, along with Sign Language poet Zoë McWhinney, create a world that is accessible and painfully relevant to the horrors that take place in the name of humanity every day, through puppetry, video performance and silence that speaks volumes. It’s almost like a respectful slap in the face.

In a fictional town named Vasenka, war is raging and after the murder of a deaf boy, who couldn’t hear a soldier’s commands, the whole town suddenly goes deaf. Everyone has to adjust to a new, silent reality, while enduring the consequences of living in an occupied territory. Alfonso and Sonya, a couple who run a puppet theatre, are determined to keep their puppet shows going. When tragedy hits their family, it’s up to the townspeople to carry on the fire of the resistance.

During a very Brechtian introduction, we’re told how British Sign Language (BSL), subtitles (or rather, surtitles) and spoken language will get merged in the performance and that what we’re about to see is a fictional story. The actors first create some distance between the characters and the audience, in order to help us assess what we see from a more objective point of view. But that comes crashing down when one of the characters mentions that in sign language ‘you can’t be a passive observer, you have to take a position’, so the audience is addressed as the people of Vasenka, we become part of it. An intriguing contrast, or debate, that keeps unfolding till it’s clear that being just an observer is not an option that does the citizens of the Deaf Republic justice. Which raises the question: should we lean more on our emotional responses or on our reason and logic?

Co-writers and co-directors, Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd, also Dead Centre’s artistic directors, urge you to come to your own conclusion and they use deafness as a means to instigate a rebellion against a military oppression. Dead Centre is familiar with challenging the barriers of theatre performance, like in another show of theirs called Chekhov’s First Play, where parallel narrations are provided to the audience through the use of headphones. In Deaf Republic, it’s not just BSL and spoken language that come together, but also a magical community, full of laughter and hope, and an overwhelming state of brutality, full of despair. The balance and delicacy with which this epic story navigates both is outstanding and leaves you with a feeling of peaceful exasperation that sits deep in your gut.

The cast are an ensemble of hearing and deaf actors and it truly feels like a celebration of cultures, where everyone connects with and is fully attuned to one another. An array of skills, from aerial performance to poetry and exceptional puppetry, that could become distracting, simply elevates some wonderfully raw performances, like Romel Belcher’s (Alfonso) and Caoimhe Coburn Gray’s (Sonya). Dylan Tonge Jones’s (Soldier) gives a chilling performance as the heart of the oppression and you take pleasure in despising him.

The most impressive element of this play is its use of space. Set designer Jeremy Herbert has created a multilayered stage that includes a stage within a stage, hidden parts that we can only see through live video recording and thin walls that allow you to see different perspectives of the same scene. It’s a journey unlike anything you’ve seen before. Lighting design (Azusa Ono) along with sound design (Kevin Gleeson) complement the tone perfectly, from the cheerful beginning to the twisted and frenzied end.

Deaf Republic is a show that has it all: a resonating war story, impeccable acting, beautiful language and incredible design elements. Moreover, in this signed revolution, you get to experience a collectiveness that doesn’t let any individual behind.

COW | DEER

Royal Court

★★★★★

“an evocative and moving story”

COW | DEER

Royal Court

Reviewed on 11th September 2025

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Camilla Greenwell

Previously reviewed at this venue:

COW

COW

COW

DEAF REPUBLIC

Royal Court

★★★★★

“a show that has it all: a resonating war story, impeccable acting, beautiful language and incredible design element”

DEAF REPUBLIC

Royal Court

Reviewed on 4th September 2025

by Stephanie Christodoulidou

Photography by Johan Persson

Recently reviewed at the venue:

DEAF REPUBLIC

DEAF REPUBLIC

DEAF REPUBLIC

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