10.26.04

Fall play presents challenges for Erskine Players

The Erskine Players' fall production, "Children of a Lesser God," presents challenges for cast members Adam Lynn, Bethy Miller, Roberto Marin-Berdeguer, Amy Dawson, Alyssa Sattler, Matt Rabe and Nikki Lee. They are receiving special assistance as they learn to sign their lines for this drama by Mark Medoff, set in a school for the deaf.

HANDS UP

Directing the play is Erskine English professor Dr. Brad Christie, who said Erskine junior Belinda Oakley serves as signing instructor for the production, and her father is helping with interpretation.

Oakley, whose parents are deaf, and who communicates with them almost exclusively in sign language, wondered whether she would have enough time for the play when Christie asked her about it. "He told me that he couldn't do it without me, so I decided to help," she said. Her efforts have earned the respect and appreciation of the actors.

Miller, who plays the profoundly deaf Sarah Norman, said her entire role is in sign language. "This has given me lots of quality time with Belinda, who has been a great help and had tons of patience with us," she said.

"Having to learn to both speak and sign my script, as well as having to learn to read the sign language of other people on stage has been a huge, but rewarding, challenge," said Lynn, who plays James Leeds, a teacher at a school for the deaf who falls in love with Sarah.

Oakley brings to the production the insights of a "bilingual" upbringing with her deaf parents. "I feel like growing up this way has done a lot for my character," she said. "It has made me mature faster, being the link between my parents and most of the rest of the world."

Her own hearing is normal, but Oakley can identify strongly with people whose hearing is impaired. "I do remember that when I was a kid, when I was mad or anything like that I would put my hands behind my back and sign to myself," she said. "We had captioning on our television and I would always read the words instead of listening to what the people were saying."          

Oakley said that as she shared her signing skills with the actors whose parts include the most sign language, they in turn worked with the other players. "With a few weeks of practicing one could tell a major difference in the speed of each player's finger spelling," she said.    

ACTING WITH A DIFFERENCE

For Miller, the difficulty of learning sign language takes second place to a related requirement of her role. "After developing a vocabulary,  and getting to know my character, the signing became much more natural," she said. "But not being able to express my character's emotions through the depths of pitch and inflection has been a challenge."

Sattler plays Mrs. Norman, Sarah's mother. Having sent her deaf daughter away to school long ago, and not having seen the girl for years, she carries a a burden of guilt, and has also lost some of her signing proficiency.

"My character would once have spoken sign language fluently, and is now very rusty at it," Sattler explained. "This made performing the role interesting because I have to know the signs for many things, but actually perform them badly or even incorrectly."

Marin-Berdeguer plays Sarah's friend Orin Dennis, who reads lips but also speaks, and had less sign language to learn than either Miller or Lynn. Still, playing a deaf character is not easy.

"It means that most of the time I am doing four things at once — remembering lines, speaking them as a deaf person would, signing the same lines, and concentrating on everyone's mouths, since my character lip-reads," he said.

Dawson, in the role of Lydia, a teenager infatuated with the teacher, James, said that although she hasn't had to learn much signing, "it has been a challenge to practice signing and speaking at the same speed." She said another hurdle for her has been "learning to speak as a deaf person would."

Lee, playing Edna Klein, a lawyer for the school for the deaf, said she had to learn only about three lines of sign language. "But my character has to respond to sign language performed by the other characters that sign more frequently," she said.

STAGING IT

Crew members supporting the production include Emily Scism, Christie's assistant and stage manager during the run; Amanda Sweeney, who heads the backstage effort and is stage manager on the floor; and Drew Carlisle, who is working on publicity.            

Scism said most scene changes in the play are done only with lighting. "This show is definitely more difficult than any other I have worked on because of the nature of the show itself," she said. "It's a difficult play to get through, but it's very powerful. There have been times in rehearsal when a couple of us have teared up."

The set design for the play is fairly simple, Sweeney said. "Its total presentation, including the absence of an elaborate set, combines all the needed elements to present a powerful picture."

Carlisle, who designed a poster promoting the play, said he has contacted a nearby school for the deaf, and hopes to attract "audience members who will benefit from the actors signing their lines."

FINDING MEANING

Like the crew, the actors have also thought about the play's themes and how audiences will respond.

"This play depicts the struggle of a hearing world trying to include the deaf world, and the deaf asking to be accepted for who they are," Dawson said.

Lynn believes members of the audience will come away with "a better appreciation for the importance of communication, as well as the difficulty that the deaf community has in communicating with the rest of the world."

Sattler said she hopes audiences will gain "a better understanding of what it means to be different and how we need to reach out to all people … whether it requires learning another language or just learning to be tolerant of others and their opinions."

"I hope audience members will see that being deaf is something that is harder than they imagined, and possibly see the situation of being hearing impaired as something of value," said Lee, "just as every struggle can be a gift in disguise when you turn it upside down or examine it carefully."

"This is, bar none, the most intriguing role I have ever played, and I am honored to be a part of this production," Miller said.                 

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