By Isaac Grivett
Three times now, I have had the pleasure of seeing Deaf West’s production of Spring Awakening. Beyond it a simply being a fantastic show, they added the element of having Deaf actors signing ASL alongside hearing actors singing and speaking. This makes for an amazing show for both hearing and Deaf audiences.
With Brilliant direction by Michael Arden, this show not only features Deaf actors, but also integrates ASL into beautiful choreography and makes it seem completely natural, even to a hearing audience member. It is immediately established that some of the characters are Deaf with “Mama Who Bore Me” signed by Wendla (Sandra Mae Frank) and sung by her voice (Katie Boeck). In the next scene, the boys are introduced. Hanschen (Andy Mientus), Georg (Alex Wyse), and Melchior (Austin Mckenzie) were hearing students that were all completely fluent in ASL as well. Moritz (Daniel N. Durant), Ernst (Joshua Castille), and Otto (Miles Barbee) represent the hardships that a Deaf person would have gone through during that time period; they were chastised for not being able to hear and using sign language to communicate and therefore were being forced to attempt to speak while in school. All of this was happening to them along with the struggles of being a teenager – growing up, having disapproving parents, beginning to feel attracted to other kids, having trouble in school, and starting to doubt religious and authority figures. Even though this show depicts life for teenagers in the late 1800’s, it accurately represents many problems that kids have today and provides another connection to already relatable characters for Deaf kids who don’t have many actor or character role models. The best part was that they actually adapted the characters to make them both sign and speak so that it not only benefited the audience but made sense within the context of the show.
After the performance, all of the actors came out and talked to the audience. Unlike a typical Broadway or tour stage door experience, all of the actors stayed and held full 5 minute conversations with everyone. It was great hearing stories of their time in rehearsal or what happened to them earlier that day rather than the usual stage door experiences where we only say “you were amazing” and they respond with “thank you.” It’s also amazing to be able to speak to all of the actors in English or ASL, and they all understand both. I personally got to speak to Daniel Durant, Krysta Rodriguez, and Joshua Castille for an extended amount of time about my own dreams of being in theatre and what it’s like working with a company that accepts and encourages Deaf people. Being in a place where we can feel proud of being Deaf and talk to others who are living their dream despite having a disability gives me and others like me a lot of hope about our own futures.
This show has been an incredible and important experience for everyone who has had a chance to see it. People like me, who are Deaf or hard of hearing, got to see a show where the Deaf characters aren’t seen as a joke as well as fully understanding everything happening onstage because every actor interpreted the dialogue in ASL. Hearing people also got a fantastic show with a glimpse into how Deaf people have been treated simply for being disabled and saw ASL disguised as choreography. The more that those who aren’t disabled can relate to someone that is, the more likely they are to realize that we are very similar to one another, the more likely they are to see us as equals who can participate in and love theatre as much as anyone else.
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