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Deaf, hearing actors team up for Sign Stage on Tour production at Sunrise » TCPalm.com
Step into the world of Winnie the Pooh, the famous bear created 85 years ago by author A.A. Milne, in a performance at Sunrise Theatre that is a feast for the eyes and the ears. Pooh and the whole gang will take the stage April 30 as a deaf theater adaptation by Sign Stage on Tour.
The family production is signed and spoken simultaneously by deaf and hearing actors performing together. The stage is filled with the movement of hands (using American Sign Language), but every word is spoken to make sure no one in the audience, deaf and hearing, misses a thing.
"It's very rare, particularly for this area," said Rick Kottler, executive director of the nonprofit Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services of the Treasure Coast. "Down in West Palm Beach or over in St. Pete, it would be a little more common, because they have a larger deaf population. But it's nice that they're doing that. We have a lot of kids in the hearing-impaired program in St. Lucie County schools."
St. Lucie County schools' hearing-impaired program serves students across the Treasure Coast, Kottler said.
Kottler estimates between 4,000 and 5,000 Treasure Coast residents are deaf. Most of the time, if they go to a stage show, these people either read lips or just take in what they can from watching the actions of the actors.
For the Sign Stage on Tour production of "Winnie the Pooh," deaf audience members will be able to catch every word. They'll be able to follow Pooh and Piglet on a Heffalump hunt, watch Rabbit scheme to rid the forest of Kanga's dreaded bathtub and help Eeyore search for his tail.
"This is in their native language," Kottler said of the production. "This is as comfortable as it gets."
For the children in your life or the child in you, Winnie the Pooh is not just a "silly old bear." As in Milne's stories, the show is filled with subtle life lessons in friendship, loyalty and acceptance that make the world of Pooh always engaging.
Step into the world of Winnie the Pooh, the famous bear created 85 years ago by author A.A. Milne, in a performance at Sunrise Theatre that is a feast for the eyes and the ears. Pooh and the whole gang will take the stage April 30 as a deaf theater adaptation by Sign Stage on Tour.
The family production is signed and spoken simultaneously by deaf and hearing actors performing together. The stage is filled with the movement of hands (using American Sign Language), but every word is spoken to make sure no one in the audience, deaf and hearing, misses a thing.
"It's very rare, particularly for this area," said Rick Kottler, executive director of the nonprofit Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services of the Treasure Coast. "Down in West Palm Beach or over in St. Pete, it would be a little more common, because they have a larger deaf population. But it's nice that they're doing that. We have a lot of kids in the hearing-impaired program in St. Lucie County schools."
St. Lucie County schools' hearing-impaired program serves students across the Treasure Coast, Kottler said.
Kottler estimates between 4,000 and 5,000 Treasure Coast residents are deaf. Most of the time, if they go to a stage show, these people either read lips or just take in what they can from watching the actions of the actors.
For the Sign Stage on Tour production of "Winnie the Pooh," deaf audience members will be able to catch every word. They'll be able to follow Pooh and Piglet on a Heffalump hunt, watch Rabbit scheme to rid the forest of Kanga's dreaded bathtub and help Eeyore search for his tail.
"This is in their native language," Kottler said of the production. "This is as comfortable as it gets."
For the children in your life or the child in you, Winnie the Pooh is not just a "silly old bear." As in Milne's stories, the show is filled with subtle life lessons in friendship, loyalty and acceptance that make the world of Pooh always engaging.