Petre acted in his native Romania, but wants to develop his skills here in Glasgow. Ciaran has toured Scotland and loves the variety. Moira wants to work with young people across Scotland, helping them develop their potential.

Like their fellow students on a pioneering new course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Petre, Ciaran and Moira have different backgrounds, nationalities and dreams for the future.

They also all happen to be deaf.

“This is the first course of its kind in my lifetime,” says Moira Anne McAuslan, who lives in Pollokshields.

“Here, I am never isolated. I can communicate with everyone.”

These students, the first cohort on the UK’s only degree course for deaf performers, are breaking down barriers in Scottish theatre.

Challenging perceptions, celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion, they are currently touring Scotland with Solar Bear theatre company in an exciting production that blends British Sign Language (BSL) and English.

All 10 students on the BA Performance in British Sign Language and English - Craig Andrew and Connor Bryson, from Falkirk, Petre Dobre from Giubega in Romania, Danielle Melvin, from Riddrie, EJ Raymond and Bea Webster, from Glasgow, Jamie Rea, from Belfast, Moira Anne McAuslan, from Pollokshields, Ciaran Alexander Stewart, from Kirkintilloch and Danni Wright, now living in Glasgow but originally from Kogorah, Australia – star in the play, Love and Information, by Caryl Churchill.

It takes the form of a series of short scenes about how we live in a world bombarded by information. Some scenes are in British Sign Language, some are in English and others are a mix of both.

The Royal Conservatoire’s three-year BA Performance in British Sign Language and English degree, which launched in 2015, was developed in association with Solar Bear with input from a range of theatre, education and deaf professionals. It teaches students to be both actors and makers of work, exploring innovative ways of creating performance through British Sign Language and English. Students have fully-qualified BSL interpreters in class, on stage and in rehearsal.

Claire Lamont, head of the course at the RCS, says: “The work being produced with these students marks a defining moment in our theatre history and we look forward to the impact they will have in Scotland and beyond. The course is breaking new ground. As well as delivering dedicated professional performance education for students, we are providing the industry with a new generation of talented and diverse performers.”

The students will graduate in July 2018 and will showcase their work in Glasgow and London in March of next year. Applications are now open for the second cohort, which will begin next September.

Petre was inspired to study in Scotland when he heard about the course.

“I did some acting in Romania, but this was the first degree course I’d heard of,” he says. “I really like Glasgow, although the weather is very changeable…”

Danni, who also came to Glasgow from overseas, says she was nervous at first about making the move.

“I heard about the course through another play I was working on and I thought – it’s a new city, it rains a lot,” she smiles.

“But life is too short. It has been an invaluable experience and despite the weather, Glasgow is a really artistic, creative, intriguing, appealing place.”

Craig Andrew says the course has been great for building confidence. “It has helped us to ‘notice’ ourselves, to have insight into the skills we have. I didn’t really know much about myself beforehand but now I do.”

Ciaran, who has some previous experience,, having toured with the musical Junkyard in a co-production between Bristol Old Vic, Theatr Clywd, Rose Theatre and Headlong and performed in a Play A Pie and A Pint series at Oran Mor in Glasgow and the Traverse in Edinburgh, sums it up.

“It’s been great to meet such a diverse range of people, and to collaborate with them all - we all just happen to be deaf.”

Love and Information is at Scottish Youth Theatre tonight, Eastwood Park Theatre in Giffnock on Monday and the tour concludes in Inverness and Banchory next week. Details at www.rcs.ac.uk/box-office

For more information on the BA Performance in British Sign Language and English degree programme visit www.rcs.ac.uk/courses/ba-performance.