PERFORMING IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE – SHARING WINTER FAIRY TALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Abstract

Ever since elementary school, something has drawn me to American Sign Language. The concept of communicating with your hands, body, and facial expressions has always interested me. It was not until college I realized it was because of ASL’s similarities to another great interest of mine, theatre. Communication, whether it is using ASL or performing on stage requires expression, attention, focus, and listening skills beyond simply hearing the words. With these similarities, my goal for writing, directing, and producing this project and show was to not only bring the hearing and deaf communities together to enjoy an evening of theatre, but to introduce a group of performers to the world of sign language, and have them discover these similarities for themselves.