TOOWOOMBA: Actor James Kerwin does not need to hear cheers from the crowd to feel the impact of his performances.

The 56-year-old performer was born profoundly deaf during the rubella epidemic of the 1960s after his mother contracted the disease while pregnant.

Mr Kerwin performed his first mime show at the eisteddfod when he was eight, just after he moved to Dalby.

Decades later, he is bringing his one-man show to the Empire Theatre this March.
Toowoomba actor James Kerwin was born profoundly deaf and is hosting a mime show at the Empire Theatre on March 7 2025. Picture: Bella Munro

From a young age, Mr Kerwin communicated through cued speech and started learning to sign from deaf youths in the Australian Theatre of the Deaf in Sydney when he was 16.

He officially learnt Auslan when he was 18, which he said was “liberating” because he was learning a language designed for him.

When it came to mime, he said it felt like a performance designed for him.

“Mime means a lot because as an actor I get to communicate with anyone, anywhere because mime transcends all languages,” he said.

“Not everyone knows Auslan but everyone understands mime.

“I also act in other ways but deaf signing roles are few and far between. Mime has no limit.”

Mr Kerwin said he wanted hearing audiences to understand more about the deaf experience through his coming show.

“To understand how a deaf person sees the world, without sound, and what we do instead of listening,” he said.

“We see things, not hear things, and we need to do certain things like more eye contact and more gestures.

“Also awareness deaf people have a culture. It is not just a disability, it is a culture too.”

He said their culture formed out of shared experiences and language.

“We have a common language, Auslan, and a shared history of schools and networking, so we form a culture,” he said.

“It also forms out of need.”

Mr Kerwin said while living in Dalby he used to visit other deaf children at Wilsonton State School.

“So I could meet other deaf children because I was isolated in the country,” he said.

Mr Kerwin said things became much more challenging for him after primary school.

“It did not affect me when I was in primary school because most of our communication was all action and play,” he said.

“It started to affect me in high school because teenagers just sat around and talked; I felt left out.”

Mr Kerwin said awareness of the deaf community had changed over the years and it was amazing anytime someone knew even one or two Auslan signs.

“Even though it is only a simple sign it still makes my day,” he said.

“I feel acknowledged and respected as a deaf person and they are including me.

“I feel more independent, more of an equal citizen.”

He said he would always remember something his mother said about him.

“My mother once said when I was a child, ‘communication is what makes him alive’,” Mr Kerwin said.

Over the years, Mr Kerwin had been a teacher for deaf children and taught Auslan to hearing children at schools in Toowoomba and Brisbane.

He is performing his one-man mime show at the Empire Theatre on March 7 and hosting a workshop for deaf actors and people who understand Auslan after the show.

The show is free and was made possible through support from the Empire Theatre Homegrown program and the Regional Arts Development Fund.