Deafness Preferred
By Rosemary Musachio
What's it like to be disabled in Cleveland? Cleveland Crips will try to answer this. No pity here! Just an insightful, often humorous perspective from a Greater Clevelander who happens to have a disability. This month Rosemary Musachio sheds light on the deaf culture and why it is not an impairment, but a preferred physical trait. Check out this insider's view on the realities of differently abled persons.
A few years ago, a deaf boy was born to a lesbian couple. Of course the child was conceived through artificial insemination. If this story weren’t controversial enough, consider the fact that the parents actually wanted their baby to be deaf.
The desire to remain completely hearing impaired has helped develop a Deaf Culture. In fact, the love and pride for American Sign Language (ASL) has caused many deaf individuals to withdraw from almost all aspects of a hearing society. Even if some can verbalize and read lips, they choose not to because it taints ASL. Preserving one’s identity is the core concern of Deaf Culture. For many deaf people, the inability to hear is a trait, not a disability, and that’s why they usually want to pass this trait, along with the language and the pride that accompany it, to their children. ASL is also a method of daily communication, and a story telling technique, relaying pride and wisdom from one generation to another. Even though ASL has no written form, several books have been written about the language. Webster even has sign language dictionaries.
Here in Cleveland, SignStage keeps ASL and deaf culture alive. Formerly known as Fairmount Theater of the Deaf, SignStage is a professional theatrical group that is composed of both hearing and deaf actors. Accordingly, they perform plays simultaneously in spoken English and ASL.
Why would a hearing person go see a play that’s concurrently performed in ASL? “It's my belief that most hearing people are fascinated by sign language and most of them would like to know how to sign,” explains William Morgan, Artistic Director for SignStage. “Also, sign language performing is very unique. We voice EVERYTHING so you don't have to know sign language in order to enjoy our performances. When you watch a sign language performance, you get to hear everything but you also get the added dimension of a fluid ‘ballet’ of hands. It's an experience that's hard to match in any other performing art.”
Morgan, who has perfect hearing, was first an actor in the deaf theatrical company. A year later, the general manager recognized his other talents and made him stage/tour manager. Morgan also has written script adaptations.
“When we perform deaf theatre, we change some of the characters in the story by making them deaf. For example, in Deaf Snow White, we make Snow White a deaf girl, which generates deaf conflicts and cultural situations within the context of the original story. The plot remains the same with the Evil Queen and the magic mirror, etc. Yet, by adding that the Evil Queen also hates deaf people...that adds a deaf conflict to the story.”
In addition to Snow White, the deaf touring company has received accolades for its performances of Aladdin, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Taste of Sunrise. along with everything else in Cleveland, SignStage has felt the repercussions of the local economy. In fact, Morgan wanted to become Artistic Manager to keep the theater company alive. “The quality of its productions only suffers in size and scope due to the amount of money that's spent on it,” he admits. “Our performances are equal to or better than anywhere else in the country. I attend the performances of the other deaf theatres every chance I get. I know I might be a bit biased, but the quality of our shows and educational programs is above those produced by our competitors. When I say we suffer due to the amount of money we have to spend...that means our costumes might not be as expensive or we may have to adjust the size of our set or reduce the number of actors we hire because we're limited by the budget. Instead of eight actors, we may only be able to hire four. If we had more economic support, we could create a bigger splash."
As Morgan mentioned, SignStage also offers educational programs, such as Dedication to the Elimination of Assumption and Fallacies. You guessed it! The acronym is D.E.A.F. - developed for deaf and hearing students, D.E.A.F. goes to schools to try to eliminate stereotypical attitudes. It teaches non-verbal communication through gestures, mime, and improvisation. The program also explores conflicts and resolutions between the deaf and hearing communities.
According to Morgan, performing for children is more challenging and enjoyable than performing for adults. “Sometimes adults don't give children enough credit for understanding what's happening on stage and that sometimes leads to playing down to children. I try NEVER to play down to them. Intelligence levels change as children grow but they understand a lot more than most adults think. Children are also more difficult to perform for because they will not give you their attention if they don't like what you're doing. As an audience, children are ruthless. You immediately know if they're not being entertained. If you're not succeeding, you lose their attention and instead of talking about it afterwards like most adults do...they fidget and talk with one another during the play.”
SignStage has accomplished a great deal not only for Deaf Culture but also for persons with disabilities. It is one of the few cultural entities in Cleveland that spotlights persons with diverse abilities. SignStage is currently performing Robin Hood across the country, and its Greater Cleveland run will be Thu 3/3 through Sat 3/5 at the Solon Center for the Arts.
from Cool Cleveland contributor Rosemary Musachio Rosemary02@sbcglobal.net
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