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Article
A single spotlight reveals a woman walking toward the center of the stage. She introduces herself and teaches the audience how to applaud in sign language. Audience members throughout the theater follow her lead and raise their hands, wiggling their fingers. Ecstatic children show their parents the sign alphabet they learned seconds before from a handout in the play’s program.
Lisa Agogliati, the director of Imagination Stage’s production of “Journey to the World’s Edge,” lead the audience in a mini-lesson in sign language before each performance by the Senior Deaf Access Company, part of the Deaf Access Program that Agogliati founded and established in 1990. The company consists of a diverse group of actors including those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, children of deaf adults and actors without hearing impairments. After five months of preparation, the company performed the play for the first time Jan. 27 and continued to perform twice every Saturday and Sunday through Feb. 11.
“Journey to the World’s Edge” followed Brigid Shawn O’Grady, a girl ostracized because of her misshapen foot, through her journey from the confined and protected world her parents created within their home to a world of make-believe. Through the adventure, Brigid found her true identity and learned that her abnormality did not define her.
Agogliati says the purpose of the play was not only to entertain, but to break prejudices and barriers between the hearing and hearing-impaired. “Many times our performances are providing the first impression of a person who is deaf or hard-of-hearing for our audience members, especially the young ones. In this case, it is very positive and relates to our mission to create a role-model of positive interaction between deaf and hearing people for our community.”
Agogliati says the premise of the play allowed the actors to draw their own parallels to Brigid’s story. “Our deaf and hard-of-hearing students find themselves on a similar journey in their experiences with the Deaf Access Company. The Deaf Access program provides [them] with an opportunity to recognize that the differences among them are just one part of who they are. Our students can focus on what they can do, not on what they can’t hear.”
Rockville High School senior Shanna Sorrells, who is hard-of-hearing, played Brigid and says she used her own life as inspiration for her character. “I rely on my own experiences with being ‘different’ to aid me with imagining myself as the character of Brigid.”
Sorrells says she has worked with Deaf Access for almost her entire life. “I was exposed to my first performance of Deaf Access when I was two or three, so I grew up with the company.”
Senior Sarah Segal, who is also hard-of-hearing, and her brother and sister all decided to act in “Journey to the World’s Edge.” “I’ve been involved with Deaf Access since I was in kindergarten, and I’ve participated in the Senior Deaf Access Program for all of high school,” Segal says.
Segal enjoyed working with both the hearing-challenged and people without hearing impairments in the same environment through the program, she says. “By participating with Deaf Access, I was able to keep my deaf culture roots while at the same time, be mainstreamed with my hearing peers.”
Although the range of hearing ability varied from actor to actor, Sorrells says everyone communicated freely and easily. “I am able to work with both hearing and deaf teenagers, and I never feel like there are any barriers with communication in this environment.”
Through the program’s concentration of hearing-impaired actors in a small company, the actors can learn from their peers who cope with similar disabilities. “At the beginning of the year, I remembered we sat in a circle and discussed how sometimes we feel separated from society. As a deaf person, I have felt singled out. It was fascinating learning about other people’s struggles,” says Sorrells.
Sorrell’s experiences with Deaf Access prompted her to pursue theater beyond the program. “I am currently directing my high school spring musical, ‘Footloose,’” she says. “Last year, I directed and wrote my own children’s play for my school, ‘A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,’” she says.
Deaf Access introduced Sorrells to the acting world, and she says she hopes to pursue theater in college and after she graduates. “I would love to spend the rest of my life being involved in the theater world and using my imagination. It is the most powerful tool we possess. It gives us the ability to escape, to laugh, to cry, to entertain.”
A single spotlight reveals a woman walking toward the center of the stage. She introduces herself and teaches the audience how to applaud in sign language. Audience members throughout the theater follow her lead and raise their hands, wiggling their fingers. Ecstatic children show their parents the sign alphabet they learned seconds before from a handout in the play’s program.
Lisa Agogliati, the director of Imagination Stage’s production of “Journey to the World’s Edge,” lead the audience in a mini-lesson in sign language before each performance by the Senior Deaf Access Company, part of the Deaf Access Program that Agogliati founded and established in 1990. The company consists of a diverse group of actors including those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, children of deaf adults and actors without hearing impairments. After five months of preparation, the company performed the play for the first time Jan. 27 and continued to perform twice every Saturday and Sunday through Feb. 11.
“Journey to the World’s Edge” followed Brigid Shawn O’Grady, a girl ostracized because of her misshapen foot, through her journey from the confined and protected world her parents created within their home to a world of make-believe. Through the adventure, Brigid found her true identity and learned that her abnormality did not define her.
Agogliati says the purpose of the play was not only to entertain, but to break prejudices and barriers between the hearing and hearing-impaired. “Many times our performances are providing the first impression of a person who is deaf or hard-of-hearing for our audience members, especially the young ones. In this case, it is very positive and relates to our mission to create a role-model of positive interaction between deaf and hearing people for our community.”
Agogliati says the premise of the play allowed the actors to draw their own parallels to Brigid’s story. “Our deaf and hard-of-hearing students find themselves on a similar journey in their experiences with the Deaf Access Company. The Deaf Access program provides [them] with an opportunity to recognize that the differences among them are just one part of who they are. Our students can focus on what they can do, not on what they can’t hear.”
Rockville High School senior Shanna Sorrells, who is hard-of-hearing, played Brigid and says she used her own life as inspiration for her character. “I rely on my own experiences with being ‘different’ to aid me with imagining myself as the character of Brigid.”
Sorrells says she has worked with Deaf Access for almost her entire life. “I was exposed to my first performance of Deaf Access when I was two or three, so I grew up with the company.”
Senior Sarah Segal, who is also hard-of-hearing, and her brother and sister all decided to act in “Journey to the World’s Edge.” “I’ve been involved with Deaf Access since I was in kindergarten, and I’ve participated in the Senior Deaf Access Program for all of high school,” Segal says.
Segal enjoyed working with both the hearing-challenged and people without hearing impairments in the same environment through the program, she says. “By participating with Deaf Access, I was able to keep my deaf culture roots while at the same time, be mainstreamed with my hearing peers.”
Although the range of hearing ability varied from actor to actor, Sorrells says everyone communicated freely and easily. “I am able to work with both hearing and deaf teenagers, and I never feel like there are any barriers with communication in this environment.”
Through the program’s concentration of hearing-impaired actors in a small company, the actors can learn from their peers who cope with similar disabilities. “At the beginning of the year, I remembered we sat in a circle and discussed how sometimes we feel separated from society. As a deaf person, I have felt singled out. It was fascinating learning about other people’s struggles,” says Sorrells.
Sorrell’s experiences with Deaf Access prompted her to pursue theater beyond the program. “I am currently directing my high school spring musical, ‘Footloose,’” she says. “Last year, I directed and wrote my own children’s play for my school, ‘A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,’” she says.
Deaf Access introduced Sorrells to the acting world, and she says she hopes to pursue theater in college and after she graduates. “I would love to spend the rest of my life being involved in the theater world and using my imagination. It is the most powerful tool we possess. It gives us the ability to escape, to laugh, to cry, to entertain.”