The Gingerbread Witch

Paul Miller is a director of Surface Area Dance Theatre and the founder and director of Rory’s Studio, an award-winning arts organisation working across illustration, animation and live theatre. As a Deaf British Sign Language user, Paul’s work is designed to illuminate and educate on Deaf culture within mainstream spaces.

Based in Newcastle, UK, Paul’s wide-ranging career has led him to work extensively as an ambassador for Deaf Awareness. Notable projects include working with the 2012 Paralympics to create a live-action short film representing a range of disabled children across the UK, receiving ACE and National Lottery Community funding to create a Youtube channel producing inclusive children’s stories through lockdown, and working as a guest producer on Where Our Root Are Planted for BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. The project featured renowned deaf choreographer Antoine Hunter and a collaboration with the Royal Conservatoire in Scotland’s BA performance programme, the UK’s first dedicated conservatoire training for Deaf performers.

Collaboration is a key factor in all of Paul’s projects. This includes illustration for children’s book authors, partnering with the Royal Association of Deaf People and London’s Camden People's Theatre to create accessible performance work, and travelling to Tokyo to work with Japan Deaf Theatre, supported by Arts Council England’s Artist International Development Fund.

Regardless of medium or location, the focus remains the same: working together to increase visibility, understanding and inclusion of Deaf culture in all areas of society, while delighting and exciting audiences along the way.