plays in Sign and speech
Jon Trevor
plays to be performed by Deaf actors, or by integrated companies of
Deaf and hearing actors.
There are some fine Deaf actors in this country, but I am sick of
seeing productions of CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD. Surely there must be
some other good theatre pieces, made to be performed in Sign and
Speech, that would be accessible to both Deaf and hearing audiences.
I am keen to find something that I could produce at one of our major
regional repertory theatres, ideally something previously unperformed
in Britain.
If you have any information on extant scripts, for performance by only
Deaf, or by Deaf and hearing actors together, suitable for mainhouse
stages and large audiences, and available for professional production,
please let me know. Do not post the information here, as I do not get
a chance to download this stuff very often, but e-mail me on
Look forward to getting some news!
Jon
Jon Trevor
Michelle Nashleanas
Jon Trevor (jo...@mail.globalnet.co.uk) wrote:
: I am a British Theatre Director, loooking for suitable scripts for
Contact Gallaudet University --- Gil Eastman wrote an adaptation of "My
Fair Lady" called "Sign Me Alice" --- it is written in a rather
interesting format that we used for our course in "Sign Language
Translation for the Theater." I think that the current director of
Gallaudet's theater department is familiar with it. The play deals with
an hypothetical sign language (similar to SEE) versus the "gutter"
language used by the people on the street... Its neat.
MEN (Michelle Nashleanas)
Signpoet
johnt>I am a British Theatre Director, loooking for suitable
johnt>scripts for
johnt>plays to be performed by Deaf actors, or by integrated
johnt>companies of
johnt>Deaf and hearing actors.
I'm sure you know about Deaf West Theater in California. Recently in New
York I saw a production (I wish I had the exact name) called something
like "The Language of Love," which integrated speech and signing in a
profoundly meaningful way.
The New York Deaf Theater Group has also done some interesting original
plays in American Sign Language (can a user of BSL understand ASL?).
Their address is 305 Seventh Ave. 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001-6008.
Good luck.
mychele
A group called Deaf Works in Phoenix did a play called "The Night of January 16"
which is some sort of court room drama that involves deaf characters. Sorry, I
didn't see the play so that's all I know. Also, I'm not sure of the month, but
I'm pretty sure it was "January 16".
Hope that helps!
See ya in the dark(tm)
Mychele
--
"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of-
but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards!" -Heinlein
****************** http://www.primenet.com/~mychele ***********************
John Connors
>
> I am a British Theatre Director, loooking for suitable scripts for
> plays to be performed by Deaf actors, or by integrated companies of
> Deaf and hearing actors.
>
> There are some fine Deaf actors in this country, but I am sick of
> seeing productions of CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD. Surely there must be
> some other good theatre pieces, made to be performed in Sign and
> Speech, that would be accessible to both Deaf and hearing audiences.
> I am keen to find something that I could produce at one of our major
> regional repertory theatres, ideally something previously unperformed
> in Britain.
>
>
The people you should probably contact are Daphne Payne at Reading
Universtity Film and Drama Department. Daphne leads Reading University's
Theatre of the Deaf course (I did it) and John Wilson, a course graduate
who now works for London UK. If you mail me I can give you a text/fax
contact number for John.
I'm very interested in what you propose to do and I am sure that they
will be, also...:-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------- joco...@cix.compulink.co.uk |
jo...@plato.ftech.net |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Doug McLean
>I am a British Theatre Director, loooking for suitable scripts for
>plays to be performed by Deaf actors, or by integrated companies of
>Deaf and hearing actors.
>There are some fine Deaf actors in this country, but I am sick of
>seeing productions of CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD. Surely there must be
>some other good theatre pieces, made to be performed in Sign and
>Speech, that would be accessible to both Deaf and hearing audiences.
>I am keen to find something that I could produce at one of our major
>regional repertory theatres, ideally something previously unperformed
>in Britain.
>If you have any information on extant scripts, for performance by only
>Deaf, or by Deaf and hearing actors together, suitable for mainhouse
>stages and large audiences, and available for professional production,
>please let me know. Do not post the information here, as I do not get
>a chance to download this stuff very often, but e-mail me on
>Look forward to getting some news!
`Tales From a Clubroom ' Springs to mind. Set in a typical deaf club, it
dramatises the reality of a deaf community - its joys, pains, humour and
triumphs. The original signed dialogue has been tramslated by the American
authors Billy Bragg and Eugenr Bergman into 'bare bones' english text and
available in book form from us at 7.99.
FOREWORD
Playwrights Bragg and Bergman have taken the deaf club as the setting for a
brilliant play in which they capture in dramatic form the psychological
impact of deafness on human beings. Just as the novelist Sinclair Lewis
portrayed the essence of Americana using the ubiquitous Rotary Club as the
focal point of middle America's social life, so have Bragg and Bergman
given us a penetrating and fascinating view of Deaf America through the
vehicle of the deaf club in Tales from a Clubroom. Their characters
capture the essence of deafness as a human condition just as Babbitt,
Lowell Schmaltz, and other literary figures of Sinclair Lewis' novels
epitomized the life of his era.
A club offers its members an opportunity for human intimacy, with all its
potential for love-hate relationships. The alternative to this intimacy is
isolation. It is this human dilemma, and theresultant love-hate
relationships, that are powerfully and intricately woven in Tales from a
Clubroom. One sees the deaf peddler demeaned for the beggar image he
creates, but admired as a symbol of revenge wrought upon "hearies" for
their exploitation of deaf people. The arrogant, insensitive college
student; the oft married aging femme fatale; the frustrated actress who
directs the club's skits; the amiable, outgoing club man who operates the
Movie projector; the oralist emerging from his closet; the socially
inadequate "hearie" who clings to the deaf-all of the "main players" in
almost any club for the deaf in any city of the United States are
powerfully portrayed.
As the play begins, those not closely identified with the deaf community
will feel somewhat lost, just as a non-Jew might feel viewing a Yiddish
drama. However, the story told in Tales from a Clubroom has a generality
for all people.
Hope this is useful
Would You like a copy of our catalogue?
Doug McLean
The Forest Bookshop, Specialist in Books About Deafness and Deaf Issues.
Coleford, Gloucestershire, England, GL16 8AR
Tel 01594 833858 (voice/TTY/Minicom) Fax 01594 833446/833856
TTY: 01594 833446
e-mail Deaf...@forestbks.demon.co.uk
Michael Grady
called "Phenomenal Smith," in which the title character is deaf. I am
developing this piece as part of a Lila Wallace grant with the group
Childsplay, Inc. in Tempe, Arizona. While the title character is deaf,
the play is only peripherally about deafness. I wanted to do a piece
that would incorporate both hearing and deaf acting styles. The story
is about two young children whose lifelong dreams take human form to
teach them how to achieve. We're using a combination of everything to
make the play legible to hearing and deaf audiences simultaneously. It's
very tricky stylistically, but the piece is a lot of fun. Childsplay is
workshopping it here in May, we then have a January '97 premiere date.
I'd be happy to send you a draft to see where we are with it--just let
me know. Thanks! Michael Grady.
KBartholic
Orange County area-
Karen Bartholic
kar...@pacblue.com
Denice Malone
Do you want to do a play in ASL or BSL?