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Signing adds another language to 'James and the Giant Peach' -- themorningcall.com
The flying hands of American Sign Language act as a visual counterpoint to the spoken dialogue in a new adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic ''James and The Giant Peach,'' designed for both hearing and hearing-impaired audiences.
Deaf actors will join hearing actors on the stage of Kutztown's Schaeffer Auditorium Sunday for Sign Stage on Tour's performance.
''They call it ballet of the hands,'' Sign Stage director William Morgan says.
Not only do the actors all sign but the title character of James is deaf in this version of the story that was specially adapted by Morgan.
Morgan says the theater, one of the only in the country that regularly tours children's theater for the deaf, has resonated with children who have grown up doing fingerplays and hand movements to music.
''At first I thought little kids would be bored with this but just the opposite is true,'' Morgan says. ''Kids are amazingly mesmerized by the visual beauty of signing. It pulls them into the show.''
The theater, which was created by Morgan and Erin LaFountain in 2001, grew out of Cleveland SignStage Theatre, an Ohio theater company that performs plays that are simultaneously spoken and signed.
Morgan and LaFountain, neither of whom are deaf, met while acting at SignStage. When the theater decided to discontinue its touring company in 2001, the two actors offered to start up their own touring troupe with SignStage's blessing.
''We felt it was something unique and different that could be successful,'' Morgan says. ''I never wanted to do what everyone else was doing.''
Morgan adapts children's stories ranging from other Dahl classics such as ''Charlie and The Chocolate Factory'' and ''Matilda'' to fairy tales such as ''Aladdin'' and ''Snow White'' into 60-minute plays that incorporate a deaf character and make references to deaf culture. LaFountain translates the script into sign language.
In ''James and The Giant Peach,'' the evil Aunt Spiker thoughtlessly speaks loudly and slowly to the deaf James, a situation with which many deaf people are familiar, according to Morgan.
''We point out deaf cultural issues within the context of the story,'' he says.
In the production, two of the actors, Rose Ann Goodman, who plays James, and Yvonne Newmann, who plays the old grasshopper, are deaf. Their characters are voiced by other actors off stage. The other actors on stage, all of whom can hear, both sign and speak their roles.
Morgan says adapting plays for the deaf presents unique challenges for staging since the actors' hands have to be visible at all times.
''We have limitations with sight lines,'' Morgan says. ''No character can stand with their back to the audience and no one can talk from off-stage. Chase scenes are especially difficult.''
He says LaFountain also faces challenges with her translations.
''Sign language is a conceptual language,'' Morgan says. ''It's not a word-for-word literal translation. Sometimes it takes longer to say something than it does to sign it, so we have to try to match the hands with the voice so it makes sense.''
Morgan who didn't know any sign language when he first acted at SignStage, now has become fluent in signing. He says his actors keep him on his toes.
''When you're working with deaf people, they will correct you,'' he says.
Morgan says word has been spreading about the troupe, which also does workshops at schools, and recently they decided to expand the season to offer more performances.
''It gives you a sense of accomplishment,'' he says. ''This is a different form of entertainment that also teaches people something.''
The flying hands of American Sign Language act as a visual counterpoint to the spoken dialogue in a new adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's classic ''James and The Giant Peach,'' designed for both hearing and hearing-impaired audiences.
Deaf actors will join hearing actors on the stage of Kutztown's Schaeffer Auditorium Sunday for Sign Stage on Tour's performance.
''They call it ballet of the hands,'' Sign Stage director William Morgan says.
Not only do the actors all sign but the title character of James is deaf in this version of the story that was specially adapted by Morgan.
Morgan says the theater, one of the only in the country that regularly tours children's theater for the deaf, has resonated with children who have grown up doing fingerplays and hand movements to music.
''At first I thought little kids would be bored with this but just the opposite is true,'' Morgan says. ''Kids are amazingly mesmerized by the visual beauty of signing. It pulls them into the show.''
The theater, which was created by Morgan and Erin LaFountain in 2001, grew out of Cleveland SignStage Theatre, an Ohio theater company that performs plays that are simultaneously spoken and signed.
Morgan and LaFountain, neither of whom are deaf, met while acting at SignStage. When the theater decided to discontinue its touring company in 2001, the two actors offered to start up their own touring troupe with SignStage's blessing.
''We felt it was something unique and different that could be successful,'' Morgan says. ''I never wanted to do what everyone else was doing.''
Morgan adapts children's stories ranging from other Dahl classics such as ''Charlie and The Chocolate Factory'' and ''Matilda'' to fairy tales such as ''Aladdin'' and ''Snow White'' into 60-minute plays that incorporate a deaf character and make references to deaf culture. LaFountain translates the script into sign language.
In ''James and The Giant Peach,'' the evil Aunt Spiker thoughtlessly speaks loudly and slowly to the deaf James, a situation with which many deaf people are familiar, according to Morgan.
''We point out deaf cultural issues within the context of the story,'' he says.
In the production, two of the actors, Rose Ann Goodman, who plays James, and Yvonne Newmann, who plays the old grasshopper, are deaf. Their characters are voiced by other actors off stage. The other actors on stage, all of whom can hear, both sign and speak their roles.
Morgan says adapting plays for the deaf presents unique challenges for staging since the actors' hands have to be visible at all times.
''We have limitations with sight lines,'' Morgan says. ''No character can stand with their back to the audience and no one can talk from off-stage. Chase scenes are especially difficult.''
He says LaFountain also faces challenges with her translations.
''Sign language is a conceptual language,'' Morgan says. ''It's not a word-for-word literal translation. Sometimes it takes longer to say something than it does to sign it, so we have to try to match the hands with the voice so it makes sense.''
Morgan who didn't know any sign language when he first acted at SignStage, now has become fluent in signing. He says his actors keep him on his toes.
''When you're working with deaf people, they will correct you,'' he says.
Morgan says word has been spreading about the troupe, which also does workshops at schools, and recently they decided to expand the season to offer more performances.
''It gives you a sense of accomplishment,'' he says. ''This is a different form of entertainment that also teaches people something.''
