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Deaf Drama Club Goes "Gooney" in Winter Play - Burr Ridge, IL Patch
Everyone has a story to tell—that’s the theme of the play Gooney Bird Greene and Her True Life Adventures.
But the Hinsdale South students who acted in the production said even more important to them than Gooney Bird’s stories is the way sharing the tales helped them connect with the audience.
Hinsdale South's Deaf Drama Club staged Gooney Bird in the school's Little Theater as its winter play Friday night. The actors performed the play in American Sign Language, while interpreters narrated what they signed.
The nine student-actors agreed that acting in the play was a great opportunity for them to communicate with the audience.
“You have to work to express your feelings so the audience knows how you feel,” said Norma Ortiz, who played a teacher named Mrs. Pidgeon.
The Deaf Drama Club has been a fixture at Hinsdale South since shortly after the school’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, which serves students throughout the Chicago area, opened its doors in the late 1960s.
Show director Hershella Ashford has led the club for the past six years. She said that she thought Gooney Bird, adapted from a book by children’s author Lois Lowry, was a perfect play for this particular group of actors.
“It was something they could relate to, and it’s also cute and funny,” she said.
All of the actors are veteran performers, having acted in a number of previous club productions. Five of the students are seniors. They'll have one more chance to grace Hinsdale South's stage during their spring production of a to-be-announced play in May.
Cori Villareal played lead role Gooney Bird Greene, a new girl in school who shares stories too good to be true, though she assures her classmates that every one is “only absolutely true.” Villareal said she learned a lot about camaraderie through the experience of playing Gooney Bird.
“A lead role is important, but you have to help each other out,” she said. “Being the lead does not mean being the top of the heap.”
Ortiz said she learned a lesson from Gooney Bird’s stories that she hopes the audience takes with it as well.
“You have to cherish your memories,” she said. “While you’re young like us, you can have a dream and hold onto that.”
Everyone has a story to tell—that’s the theme of the play Gooney Bird Greene and Her True Life Adventures.
But the Hinsdale South students who acted in the production said even more important to them than Gooney Bird’s stories is the way sharing the tales helped them connect with the audience.
Hinsdale South's Deaf Drama Club staged Gooney Bird in the school's Little Theater as its winter play Friday night. The actors performed the play in American Sign Language, while interpreters narrated what they signed.
The nine student-actors agreed that acting in the play was a great opportunity for them to communicate with the audience.
“You have to work to express your feelings so the audience knows how you feel,” said Norma Ortiz, who played a teacher named Mrs. Pidgeon.
The Deaf Drama Club has been a fixture at Hinsdale South since shortly after the school’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, which serves students throughout the Chicago area, opened its doors in the late 1960s.
Show director Hershella Ashford has led the club for the past six years. She said that she thought Gooney Bird, adapted from a book by children’s author Lois Lowry, was a perfect play for this particular group of actors.
“It was something they could relate to, and it’s also cute and funny,” she said.
All of the actors are veteran performers, having acted in a number of previous club productions. Five of the students are seniors. They'll have one more chance to grace Hinsdale South's stage during their spring production of a to-be-announced play in May.
Cori Villareal played lead role Gooney Bird Greene, a new girl in school who shares stories too good to be true, though she assures her classmates that every one is “only absolutely true.” Villareal said she learned a lot about camaraderie through the experience of playing Gooney Bird.
“A lead role is important, but you have to help each other out,” she said. “Being the lead does not mean being the top of the heap.”
Ortiz said she learned a lesson from Gooney Bird’s stories that she hopes the audience takes with it as well.
“You have to cherish your memories,” she said. “While you’re young like us, you can have a dream and hold onto that.”