Little Lake teams up with School for the Deaf for ASL production of “Captain Louie Jr.’
Learning your lines, getting your blocking down, making sure your voice is being heard in the last row. Those are all standard parts of the prep work before appearing in a theatrical production.
For its upcoming staging of 无毛视频淐aptain Louie Jr.,无毛视频� Little Lake Theatre in North Strabane has added another element to the mix 无毛视频� its cast members who can hear must learn sign language.
无毛视频淲e ask a lot of deaf children,无毛视频� said Jena Oberg, Little Lake无毛视频檚 former artistic director and the director of 无毛视频淐aptain Louie Jr.无毛视频� She pointed out how children with hearing impairments have to learn to navigate in a world designed for hearing, and so 无毛视频渨e sort of turn the tables with this project.无毛视频�
For the first time in its long history, Little Lake is teaming up with the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf for a production. Oberg pointed out that deaf performers appearing in community theater presentations is extremely uncommon 无毛视频� she is unaware of one that has ever attempted it before. There are theater companies in the United States and elsewhere in the world that use sign language and the spoken word, such as the Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles and the National Theater of the Deaf in Connecticut.
A children无毛视频檚 musical written by Stephen Schwartz, the creator of 无毛视频淲icked无毛视频� and 无毛视频淕odspell,无毛视频� 无毛视频淐aptain Louie Jr.无毛视频� is based on the children无毛视频檚 book 无毛视频淭he Trip,无毛视频� and is about making new friends. The cast of 无毛视频淐aptain Louie Jr.无毛视频� is divided between 13 hearing cast members and eight cast members from the School for the Deaf. It无毛视频檚 being presented in spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL). Once the hearing cast members were put in place, they had to take a 10-week ASL course.
According to Oberg, 无毛视频淲e took a group of hearing actors and said, you无毛视频檙e going to learn a whole new language system, and you无毛视频檙e going to be in a school when adults sign, and you无毛视频檙e going to be asked to do an activity that you love, but you have to accommodate others.无毛视频�
She added, 无毛视频淥ften we don无毛视频檛 pay attention to the pragmatic aspect of language. We pay more attention to the words. So (audiences) will be asked to listen to the story a little differently or experience the story a little differently, which is a cool experience.无毛视频�
Some of the costs for the production have been covered through assistance from Pennsylvania Neighborhood Assistance Program and the PNC Foundation. A $16,500 tax credit was awarded to Charleroi-based LaCarte Enterprises for its support of the production. Oberg hopes 无毛视频淐aptain Louie Jr.无毛视频� is the first in a series of collaborations with the School for the Deaf.
无毛视频淚f it无毛视频檚 possible for that to happen in the future, I think that would be really great. I would love to have more opportunities. It无毛视频檚 very rare that a deaf child can go into an activity outside the school and participate.无毛视频�
Next Thursday night无毛视频檚 premiere performance of 无毛视频淐aptain Louie Jr.无毛视频� is sold out. Additional performances are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Oct. 9 at 2 p.m.
For additional information go online to www.littlelake.org or call 724-745-6300.