Little Lake Theatre teaming up with Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf for production
In theory, the immediacy and spontaneity of live theater is a world that’s closed off to people who are hard of hearing or deaf.
It’s tough to follow what is unfolding onstage if you can’t decipher what the actors are saying, even if they are aiming for the last row of the balcony. And many companies that operate on a break-even basis don’t have the resources for things like live captioning or signers who can convey what is being said to audience members who have auditory impairments.
But there are some companies that have made significant strides in reaching audiences who are deaf. Theater companies with deaf performers and a mission to expand knowledge about deaf culture can be found in Britain, Australia, France and Germany. The most prominent deaf theaters in the United States are the National Theater of the Deaf based in Connecticut and Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles. But most small community theaters do not have the means or capability to reach audiences that cannot hear.
Little Lake Theatre in North Strabane will become one of the rare community theaters in the United States to try to reach deaf audiences next September when it presents the musical “Captain Louie Jr.,” with a cast that is set to include students from the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Swissvale.
In addition to young actors who are hard of hearing or deaf, the participating actors who can hear will be taking 10 weeks of courses in American Sign Language (ASL) once they are cast in the production this month. The entire production will be performed in ASL and spoken English.
“It will be a phenomenal learning experience”, said Jena Oberg, Little Lake’s artistic director.
The idea for teaming up with the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf grew out of a meeting of Little Lake’s artistic committee strategic planning meeting. Oberg and members of the committee were discussing ways to make the theater more accessible to a wider range of the community, and teaming up with the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf grew from that.
The education and training initiative with Little Lake Theatre and Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, was scheduled to be announced this morning during an event at the theater held by the state Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Labor & Industry Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
In addition to creating the initiative, expanding opportunities for young people who have hearing impairments is an issue that hits close to home for Oberg, whose 6-year-old daughter, Anusha, is deaf.
“My dream would be that my daughter can do whatever she wants,” Oberg said. “We’re just trying to open a few more doors.”
Based on a children’s book and with music by Grammy-winning composer Stephen Schwartz, “Captain Louie Jr.” will be more ambitious and more costly than what Little Lake typically stages. Some of those costs will be covered through assistance from the PNC Foundation and the Pennsylvania Neighborhood Assistance Program, the latter of which gives tax credits to businesses that donate money to help out community or neighborhood services. A $16,500 tax credit was awarded to LaCarte Enterprises, based in Charleroi and the operators of Model Cleaners, for its contributions to Little Lake’s effort.
Marybeth Lauderdale, community coordinator for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, said students from the school have appeared in productions presented by Attack Theatre, the Pittsburgh dance company, and in a production staged by Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. The collaboration with Little Lake will be a “win-win” for both organizations, she said.
And Oberg hopes this groundbreaking production for Little Lake will provide a template for future collaborations with the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.
“This is our pilot program,” she said. “We hope, if it is successful, that we can continue the partnership and have many more ASL productions in the years to come.”