There are nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK, but shamefully, for many of us, our only experience of sign language is the late night interpretators in the bottom corner of our TV screens.

For deaf actress Caroline Parker it is a way of life – indeed, she even created her own cabaret show, The Silent Diva, in which she signed popular tunes such as Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

“I make music accessible to deaf people and signing accessible to hearing people – you don’t have to hear music, you can feel it and you can see it,” she says.

Inspired by Caroline’s show, playwright Nona Shepphard and Jenny Sealey, artistic director of disabled-led theatre company Graeae, decided to “create a vehicle to embody the world of signed song within a narrative”. As a result, the one-woman show Signs of a Star Shaped Diva will premiere at the Theatre Royal Stratford East next week.

Taking her rightful position in the spotlight is Caroline, who plays the dual roles of the mousy undetaker Sue Graves and her alter ego Tammy Frascati, the famous international chanteuse who signs the songs of the stars.

Speaking about her character, Caroline, who started working with Graeae as a temporary stage manager in the ‘80s, tells me: “Sue is a down-to-earth woman from up north who loves her divas. Whenever something happens to her in her life and she needs advice, she turns to the divas and uses the songs to help her.”

The 47-year-old star, who will speak the text in the play, continues: “The major challenges have been signing in the character of Sue, my act is distinctively over-the-top with slapstick stuff and Sue is much more refined.”

Brought up in rural Cheshire, Caroline attended a comprehensive school with a Partially Hearing Unit and spent three years at the Manchester Youth Theatre before going to mime school. Landing her first acting job while still in training, Caroline has “worked solidly since”, touring extensively with Deafinitely Theatre and Fittings Media Arts, and more recently playing Sue Lee in the fourth series of BBC See Hear’s drama Switch and lip reading expert Florence on BBC One’s Murphy’s Law.

“I cannot remember a time when I was not a performer. My first time on stage was when I was a toddler, seeing my older sister in her nativity play, I squealed and ran on stage before either parent could stop me, held my sister’s hand and beamed at the chuckling audience. I got away with it ‘cos I was to damn cute. I’m still getting away with it when I beam my smile,” she says with her trademark wit.

Clearly not one to ever use her disability as an excuse, Caroline refuses to play the victim card when I ask her about industry prejudice.

“I think everyone in their own way comes across this at some point in their lives, it’s how we deal with those issues and hope that people will see beyond the hearing aid, of colour of skin or gender and so forth, we can only hope to inspire people to see us as who were are and change their minds about their first impressions.”

That said, Caroline is not naive, and she readily admits there are still issues that need addressing: “Disabled people are still very much discriminated. How many shows in the West End have disabled people performing in them? How many disabled characters are still played by non-disabled actors? The best way to overcome these barriers is to inform people who have the say so, work with them and open up their minds to the possibilities.”

Signs of a Star Shaped Diva runs from Wednesday, January 27 to Saturday, February 6. Tickets: 020 8534 0319, www.stratfordeast.com (£8-£15)