Sign language comes to Toronto stage

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by lbrunetti in A&E

Alexandra
Tomaszewski
A&E Reporter

Humber theatre’s voice coach has been taking time off from teaching to conduct workshops that assist the hearing impaired.
Kennedy C. MacKinnon is developing new forms of American Sign Language that will be used on stage.
“In 1994 I was working in London, England with Shakespeare Link U.K who initiated a week long project using half hearing, half deaf actors to translate Macbeth into sign. I was really inspired by the work,” said MacKinnon, who is also the artistic director for Shakespeare Link Canada.
She’s spent a six-month leave develoing Romeo and Juliet – Signing the Bard.
“There are limited seating arrangements because we’re really geared towards getting funding right now,” she said.
“It takes time to build the audience capacity.”
MacKinnon said she approached the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People to co-produce workshops. “This led to regular meetings where it was not uncommon to spend over an hour on two lines,” she said.
“The process literally required making new signs because there are not as many signs as there are words,” she said.
“How do you explain star-crossed lovers in the language of sign?” asked Jeffrey Wetsch, the hearing actor who plays Romeo.
Wetsch said it was very “Shakespearian in the sense that we were really creating the language for ASL.”
Hopes are high for this type of theatre because the performance itself “changes people’s perception of the deaf community,” he said.
Dana Vranic, artistic producer and hearing actor, hopes the audience leaves the theatre with a greater understanding of the value of communication.
“It’s not always easy or fast. It’s about the value of trying to understand one another,” she said.
In translating the play, Vranic said she had to come up with ways to take a very literal ASL sign and heighten it.
“Intensity or speed is used to get the idea across to a greater audience.”
She said it’s a whole different production working with sign language.
“The goal is to gain funding by inviting guests to a production this fall,” she said.
A workshop production will also open for the public the following October at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People.