Deaf man and busker form unlikely songwriting duo in The Singer

The Singer is a gig theatre production staged by Cora Bissett, who also wrote the story, and presented by Dundee Rep and Solar Bear. It tells the story of Joe, a deaf man who uses British Sign Language, and Andy, a busker he meets on the street. Joe invites Andy home and introduces him to a different way of experiencing music: through vibrations and touch, using a Subpac device and feeling the sound through the floor. Despite his disability, Joe has a deep love for music and demonstrates this by placing his hand on Andy's guitar. The two form an unlikely songwriting partnership, with Joe providing beats and Andy contributing his singer-songwriter style. The production features songs written by KT Tunstall, with musical direction by Michael John McCarthy. The story explores the challenges of friendship within an exploitative music industry, as Andy's loyalty wavers, and highlights the exclusion of d/Deaf people and the lower status of BSL culture. The set, designed by Jenny Booth, ensures that written, spoken, and signed languages are always available, making the production accessible. The cast includes Jamie Rea as Joe, Dylan Wood as Andy, and Hannah Jarrett-Scott and Peter Dobre as Andy's grandparents, who provide a ribald running commentary. The production is described as highly enjoyable and accessible, with a moment where the audience is taught to sign the chorus of a song. The review notes that while the story is not the production's chief strength, it effectively makes salient points about inclusion and culture. The production is a collaboration between Dundee Rep and Solar Bear, and it was staged in Dundee, Scotland. The review was published in The Guardian, and the production is likely to have been performed in the months leading up to the review date.