Text Oran Mor May 16

NATALIE MacDonald looks astonishingly like Hollywood star Julianne Moor, yet at this moment she’s not enjoying the comparison.

The reason? Julianne is set to star as a deaf person in upcoming movie, Wonderstruck.

And Natalie is far from happy about that.

“I think the role should be played by a deaf person,” says East Kilbride –born Natalie.

“It’s now 2016 and we’re still not hiring actors who are actually deaf.”

Natalie MacDonald knows the world of the deaf person. Her sister was born deaf and Natalie learned sign language from an early age.

She went on to work with deaf people, yet she wanted to become an actress.

In recent years, Natalie has worked in Scottish theatre signing during plays.

But now she’s set to star in one.

Writer Lesley Hart has come up with Role Shift, a play about a couple who meet in the casino of a cruise ship.

This boy-meets-girl love story, played out by Ally ( Robert Softley Gayle) and Bernie (Louise McCarthy) takes an interesting twist however when the interpreter for the deaf Carrie (Natalie) gets drawn into the action.

“Rather than be invisible, Carrie gets fed-up with all this and decided to come out of this interpreting box and into the action on the stage.

“She realises she can play with this magical world, she influences the storyline.

“There is a lot of sexual tension between the two central characters, but there’s a twist in that Ally hints that he may be gay.

“What we learn is that Bernie is there to blow off steam and she fancies all these Italian men as well.”

Carrie, determined to achieve recognition. changes the storyline. But then she does something even more dramatic.

She uses her new, previously undiscovered magic

powers to carry out a body swap.

“It sounds hard to follow,” says Natalie, grinning, but it’s a comedy and it does work.

“Carry manages to swap Ally and Bernie around

The play plays around with notions of identity. It plays around with the idea of interpreters for the deaf being vital for a production, yet sidelined.

For once, the interpreter gets to be part of the action and Natalie reckons it’s the idea way to herald the work of someone so necessary.

“What audiences don’t realise is the interpreters not only sign but they play every character on stage.

“We don’t get direction, or rehearsal time. And we still have to get it right every time.

“But we’re important. If we get it wrong the audience can lose the plot.

“That’s why Carrie wants to be able to influence the story, by affecting this relationship.”

The story goes on to reveal the truth about the couple’s sexual identity, thanks to the body swap.

To add an another dimension, Robert Softley Gayle is disabled.

It all makes for an intriguing concept. “Carrie explains what she is doing to the audience. And in the process throws out the thoughts about what it means to be someone else.”

The challenge for Natalie is enormous. She has to listen to the lines spoken and interpret, but then also speak in character and to the audience, while still interpreting. “

“It’s like speaking two languages at the one time,” says Natalie.

After studying theatre arts at Langside College and Contemporary Theatre Practice at the RSAMD, Natalie went on to study interpreting and linguistic studies at Herriot Watt University.

The mum-of-three became a fully registered Interpreter in British Sign Language in 2005 and now specialises in theatre interpreting. She also directs in theatre and works with young, deaf people.

“This play Role Shift is not only a really nice piece of theatre it’s a fantastic chance for me to show what I can do, as a performer and an interpreter,” she says.

“But what I would really hope for the future is we don’t need interpreters on stage. It would be great if we used deaf actors who would do the signing themselves.

“We don’t use actors these days who black up. So why is it okay to pretend to be in a wheelchair or pretend to be deaf?”

Meantime, Natalie, who once ran a deaf choir, will continue to work in theatre, where she points out interpreters aren’t always fully appreciated.

“At times, I will buy my own outfits, so that I can blend in on stage,” she says. “At times I’ve been told I can’t go into the Green Room with the actors.

“And sometimes, you feel directors don’t realise the hours we have to put in to learn scripts, such as Romeo and Juliet which I worked on recently.

“Now, I’m speaking in characters, signing for other characters, then interjecting, while still signing. And when signing, I have to let the audience know which character their getting.

She adds, grinning; “It’s a real brain sprain,” she says. “But it’s worth it and it’s exciting.

“And at least now, the audience will have more idea of what we have to do.”

•Role Shift, Oran Mor, until Saturday.