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Fulton Sun
Actors won't be alone when they take the stage in two performances of “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” next week at William Woods. In addition to the actors, two shadow interpreters will play an integral role by signing for deaf members of the audience.
The show - which opens today and runs through March 1 - will integrate the interpreters as characters in the play during Feb. 28-29 performances.
“They're on the stage and even sometimes they interact with the actors,” director Melissa Alpers-Springer said. “They're in costume so it's different from them just sitting on the side of the stage and really, it's an advantage for the deaf community because they're right there with the action. They don't have to glance at the action and then glance over at the interpreter to see what's going on.”
This is only the second time William Woods has employed shadow interpreting; normally the university uses platform interpreters that sit to the side of the action.
Alumni Genevieve Jimenez first introduced the style here as part of her senior project in fall 2006. She majored in theatre and interpreting and later took an internship with an interpreting theatre group based in Detroit.
Jimenez and co-interpreter Kristina Corder will offer another level to the acting for the whole audience.
“It's interesting because our roles switch multiple times throughout the performance and even each page,” Jimenez said. “So I could be interpreting for one person for half a page, then I switch to this person, then I switch back.”
The combination of a large deaf community and a strong sign language interpreting program at William Woods makes Fulton prime for this sort of performance, Jimenez said. She worked with Alpers-Springer to mesh the sign language with the play and keep it from being obtrusive to the hearing audience.
“I've seen the show a lot by the time the shadow interpreter's come in,” Alpers-Springer said. “It's interesting for the people who are hearing to see what the signs are. I know the lines so well that the signs offer a different take on it.”
The play, by Steve Martin, is William Woods' third production for the year. It offers a view of what might have happened if Pablo Picasso and a young Albert Einstein met at the Lapin Agile bar in 1904 in Paris, said William Woods artistic director Joe Potter.
“Basically, this becomes a conversation of whether we should look at life through science or we should look at life through art,” Potter said. “What they discover is that through their approaches they all come to the same conclusion: life is very, very interesting. What Steve Martin says, according to him, is that art and science at their most creative levels operate in the same way. That's ultimately overall the theme of the play.”
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” opens at 8 tonight and runs through Saturday and then again Feb. 28 - March 1.
Actors won't be alone when they take the stage in two performances of “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” next week at William Woods. In addition to the actors, two shadow interpreters will play an integral role by signing for deaf members of the audience.
The show - which opens today and runs through March 1 - will integrate the interpreters as characters in the play during Feb. 28-29 performances.
“They're on the stage and even sometimes they interact with the actors,” director Melissa Alpers-Springer said. “They're in costume so it's different from them just sitting on the side of the stage and really, it's an advantage for the deaf community because they're right there with the action. They don't have to glance at the action and then glance over at the interpreter to see what's going on.”
This is only the second time William Woods has employed shadow interpreting; normally the university uses platform interpreters that sit to the side of the action.
Alumni Genevieve Jimenez first introduced the style here as part of her senior project in fall 2006. She majored in theatre and interpreting and later took an internship with an interpreting theatre group based in Detroit.
Jimenez and co-interpreter Kristina Corder will offer another level to the acting for the whole audience.
“It's interesting because our roles switch multiple times throughout the performance and even each page,” Jimenez said. “So I could be interpreting for one person for half a page, then I switch to this person, then I switch back.”
The combination of a large deaf community and a strong sign language interpreting program at William Woods makes Fulton prime for this sort of performance, Jimenez said. She worked with Alpers-Springer to mesh the sign language with the play and keep it from being obtrusive to the hearing audience.
“I've seen the show a lot by the time the shadow interpreter's come in,” Alpers-Springer said. “It's interesting for the people who are hearing to see what the signs are. I know the lines so well that the signs offer a different take on it.”
The play, by Steve Martin, is William Woods' third production for the year. It offers a view of what might have happened if Pablo Picasso and a young Albert Einstein met at the Lapin Agile bar in 1904 in Paris, said William Woods artistic director Joe Potter.
“Basically, this becomes a conversation of whether we should look at life through science or we should look at life through art,” Potter said. “What they discover is that through their approaches they all come to the same conclusion: life is very, very interesting. What Steve Martin says, according to him, is that art and science at their most creative levels operate in the same way. That's ultimately overall the theme of the play.”
“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” opens at 8 tonight and runs through Saturday and then again Feb. 28 - March 1.