A passionate deaf performer who trained at Leeds Conservatoire is taking an exciting step in her acting career this October, making her professional debut at York Theatre Royal in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad.
The production stars Amelia Bullmore (Riot Women, Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey) as Penelope and brings Atwood’s retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey to the York stage, directed by Juliet Forster.
Olivia Burton-Laws (third from left) in Jekyll and Hyde rehearsals as a Leeds Conservatoire student
Actor Olivia Burton-Laws, who got her first cochlear implant in 2007, will be playing the roles of Naiad Mother in spoken English and British Sign Language (BSL); Tanis with limited speech and BSL; and will also be part of the ensemble.
For Olivia, who will be 22 at the time of the production, this represents more than another milestone in her developing acting career. As a deaf performer, she is passionate about using her work to increase awareness and visibility of BSL and to encourage greater representation of deaf people within the performing arts.
She said: “It has always been my mission to raise deaf awareness in the theatre, and this production gives me the opportunity to showcase the strengths of a deaf actor through both BSL and spoken English. BSL offers additional expressions allowing actors to convey meaning and emotion in visually compelling ways. I do hope that the audience will support having a deaf actor to visually tell part of this story.”
Olivia’s passion for performing began at a young age. She started dancing at three and went on to develop a love of drama, art and sport at school. Next, she studied Drama and Performing Arts at college, achieved four A Levels, before progressing to study Acting at Leeds Conservatoire.
Reflecting on her recent training, Olivia said: “Life at Leeds Conservatoire was pretty amazing. From the very first day I was included in everything and was always offered any extra help should I need it. I embraced every session and I took every opportunity to ensure that I could experience all aspects of my course. My peers and tutors were all fantastic and were always there to support and encourage me.”
Olivia was thrilled not only to book her first professional job ahead of graduation but also for this to be acknowledged at the conservatoire. She said: “I was so excited when I got the news, I couldn’t believe that I had my first performance booked before my graduation and, even more, I was taken aback when Principal Professor Joe Wilson gave me a shout out at my graduation ceremony; it was truly a great moment to share with all my friends.”
Looking to the future, Olivia added: “Who knows where this will take me next, but what is important is that being deaf is not a limitation on acting ability. A deaf actor will always be an actor first, with individual talents, personality, training and artistic strengths, which can bring powerful and distinctive strengths to a performance.”
The Penelopiad runs from 10 to 31 October 2026.
