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[Presenter] As festival season arrives, let's get concrete and move to Avignon.

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We have an interview this evening with actrice Emmanuelle Laborit.

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In 1993, she received the Molière for best theatre newcomer, you may remember,

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for her extraordinary performance in "Les enfants du silence" [adapted from "Children of a Lesser God"]

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Today, she is here to talk about another very ambitious project:

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let hearing people applaud a work entirely interpreted in sign language.

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A report by our special envoys Dominique Poncet and Marc Félix.

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[Interpreter] Many foreigners come to the Avignon festival

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and actually, we feel a bit like a foreign actors' company.

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We want to talk about our culture in this way, to show it.

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And it's true, it's a bit of a mad gamble.

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Its a bit mad because Thierry was completely committed to creating this piece

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in French Sign Language: it's not easy.

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[Journalist] with other deaf-mute actors like herself,

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Emmanuelle Laborit came to Avignon to take up a challenge:

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let people listen to Sophocles' Antigone without the support of speech.

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Why this bet?

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To free her deaf actor colleagues from the roles

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they are usually typecast in.

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To also show the extraordinary richness of deaf sensitivity

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[Music]
("Antigone, after Sophocles)

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[Music]

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[Interpreter] As for me, my work is fighting.

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I can therefore play various roles.

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If a director wants to work with me, we can adapt anything,

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We can do anything together. Anything is possible truly.

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[music]

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It's above all, a theatrical role: you use all the space

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Because you need to know how to use the space

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in ways that an actor really doesn't know how to.

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You must learn to use facial expressions - these can be very subtile.

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[music]

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It took me a little while to adapt:

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at the beginning I found it a little difficult - a little bit...

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But now, it's all good, you know? I've got in the swing of things

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And I've got completely used to living here; I could live in Avignon,