Many shows/plays were happening in NYC during the Fall/Winter season this year. Obviously, as I work in one of the theatre companies which was producing one, I get to see a few shows, some of them a few times, like Captive Audience produced by the company I work for, New York Deaf Theatre and Spring Awakening produced by Deaf West, still running on Broadway as I write this blog entry.
Most of the shows were set in small theatres or art houses with an average of 80 seats, which makes the distance between the actors on stage to the farthest seat just about 50 feet away. For the audience of a Deaf theatre (obviously with Deaf actors) performing in ASL, the 50 feet distance is still close enough to see the nuances of the signs and expressions that the language requires. It is a beautiful visual all along to see the whole show, the stage design, the props' details and the amazing (or sometimes awful) performances from the actors in full range of the language including body language. Whether or not I liked the play being performed on each occasion, I could still enjoy the show just to be mesmerize by the beauty of the visual and, of course, the acting without the voice from the Deaf actors.
Now, talking about Spring Awakening's Broadway theatre, Brook Artkinson Theater on 47th st, it is just too big and wide for this kind of production. If you read my previous post about my experience on going to LA just for this show in the Inner City Art Center (another 80-90 seats venue), you can imagine how overwhelmed I was to watch it being spread out on the big stage of a Broadway theatre. Let me make a pause here to say, I LOVED that the show is on Broadway but there are certain things that were good and certain things that are bad about having a Deaf play on a big Broadway theatre..here is why; if you are Deaf and can't afford the ridiculously expensive Broadway ticket and need to sit on the last row, you will pretty much miss every dialogue in ASL, there is no way you can see the facial expressions and sometimes many of the signs, especially finger-spelling, from that far away. Then you can think like many people use in films, get a binocular, no one is ashamed to use it when seats are far away..but then guess what? You can't follow the signing around the stage that bumps from one corner to the other without you even noticing. Anyway, I'm not here to criticize the show, I love it, I saw it 4 times on Broadway alone and I'm still looking forward to see it again before it ends. I'm here to reflect on what it is that we should expect to see when going to a Deaf theatre production, if that production is in a venue with more than 100 seats.
As I mentioned above, I went to see Spring Awakening on Broadway 4 times and I tried a few different seats. In 2 events, I was able to change seats so I really tried 6 different seat locations. Cheap and far is not a great seat for a Deaf person as I said, but it is not the worst for a hearing person. You can see pretty much the visual, follow with all the screen projections and enjoy the dancing/choreography in a whole, but if you are looking to catch the ASL, this is not the right seat.
Once I won the lottery and got the balcony seat. I also bought a seat on the 3rd row, but was so much on the side that I couldn't see half the stage..meaning, if you are on the side or balcony, be prepare to see half the show. Best seat to enjoy the whole show and still enjoy and understand the ASL (or sim-com) is, without a doubt, mid to far orchestra, best of the best, is front mezzanine.
But, what brought me to write this blog which is about my "journey" into knowing and appreciating the Deaf culture and language as I continue my learning, and therefore to me, the BEST of the BEST seat in each and every Deaf theatre production is the front row. In small theatre venues like the usual Deaf theatre productions, we may still need to work a little our heads to follow the action, but not really much. All is right there in a small stage for us to enjoy. But on Broadway theatre venue, it is a lot of turning heads and tilting up and down. However regardless of the "head work" in my opinion, the fact that I get to see the full extend of the language and the art of performing by the Deaf actors is just soooooooo fantastic. All the details of the signs, the facial expression, the full body language required by each character portrayed by the actors is what made me such a fan of Deaf performances. The true performing art doesn't depend on the voice intonation, to perform without it and still convey the feeling, the image, the emotions, all in there with the body, by how they move or walk, how they show in their faces, and just use gesture and hand shapes moving accordingly with the situation is just so magical, so beautiful, so...no word can describe it. I felt like I was watching DaVinci painting the Monalisa. Pure art!! I was even happier to see 2 of the artists whose signing performances made me realize how beautiful ASL and Deaf performing are, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant on Spring Awakening had me crying almost the whole play. Not that the characters were tragic or sad, well Mr. Durant's character is a little, but after seeing it 4 times previously, I was used to the story and it doesn't make me feel anything anymore, I was crying for seeing how beautiful the performance was, how much they can do with their art, their body, their language. And not just them, Sandra Mae (for sure made me cry a lot too), Joshua Castille, Russell Havard, Miles Barbee and Amelia Hansey all had their chance to prove their art too.
Basically, if you are reading this and want to see a Deaf theatre production, make sure to find out the best seat for what you really want to see (whole visual, ASL and visual, half the show...), but if you just want to enjoy the acting like me, my suggestion still is..FRONT ROW!
