Brian Duffy is a Scottish actor, writer and Visual Vernacular artist. He is Deaf and uses

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the Deafness in the United Kingdom, deaf community in the UK. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a f ...

Personal life

He achieved a BA (Hons) in Video and Film Production from the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university in Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, England, located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverham ...

Career

He is credited with co-creating the first sitcom in

, called ''Small World'', along with

Ace Mahbaz Ace Mahbaz (born 25 June 1986) is an actor and writer, known for ''Small World'' and ''Sehen statt Hören''. He was born in Tehran and raised in Europe, currently residing in London and Berlin. Personal life Ace Mahbaz is a well-known figure in ...

. The comedy series features Visual Vernacular, and relies on physical humour, facial expressions and in-jokes to bring comedy that is effective for a Deaf audience. They created the series directly in Sign Language, filming lines directly in Sign Language rather than writing the script down, and developed the series further with a series of workshops with the actors. He has appeared on short videos. Duffy has played in many stage adaptations, including ''

Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as ...

'' and '' 4.48 Psychosis'' with Deafinitely Theatre, and has worked as a Sign Language consultant on ''

Troilus and Cressida ''The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida'', often shortened to ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forc ...

'' with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

. In 2020 Duffy performed in a theatrical adaptation of a scene from the 1993

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

novel ''Trainspotting'' for The National Theatre of Scotland's Scenes for Survival series, ''Strolling Through the Meadows''.

Advocacy

Duffy is an advocate for Deaf persons and

Deaf culture Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as ...

. He has endorsed the creation of media that utilizes sign language as well as sign-presented TV, as he feels that "hearing people would understand a lot of deaf people much more if they were to see programmes like that 'Small World''. Of the language, Duffy has stated that "Sign language recorded on camera is exactly the same as writing on paper - it is the only way of archiving our language and culture."

Filmography

Film

* ''The Guest'' (2009, short film) * ''The End'' (2011, short film, as Arron - Man) * ''Love's Labour's Lost: Performed in British Sign Language'' (2012, as Boyet) * ''You, Me'' (2012, short film, as Mark) * ''Retreat'' (2013, short film)

Television

* ''Wicked'' (2009, 4 episodes, as Doctor Buff) * ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

'' (2015, "Sniper's Nest Pt 1 & 2", as Andrew) * ''Small World'' (2014-2016, as Ryan) * ''Small World'' (2016, TV short, as Ryan)

Theatre performances

* '' 4.48 Psychosis'' (2018) *''Strolling Through the Meadows'' (2020, part of the Scenes for Survival series)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duffy, Brian Living people Deaf film directors BSL users British male deaf actors Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton Deaf writers British writers with disabilities Deaf artists British disability rights activists Scottish deaf people Year of birth missing (living people) British artists with disabilities