Authors: Evan Tribelhorn & Abbi Mancini
Cover photo: Gabriella O’Fallon as Juliet (right) and Joshua Castille as Romeo (left) | Photo by Rosemary Dai Ross, Courtesy of ACT Theater
Evan Tribelhorn: It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a production of Romeo and Juliet that I found myself invested in. It’s by no means a bad play, but after a certain point it just becomes too predictable and I feel like I’m in ninth grade English again absolutely bored out of my mind. When I saw that the ACT Theater was going to do a production of Romeo and Juliet that featured deaf actors utilizing American Sign Language I hoped that this would be the show that would reignite my passion for the show, and last Thursday’s performance far exceeded my wildest expectations. Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, I found myself as anxious and heartbroken as the first time I saw the show.
ACT made one of Shakespeare’s most known works fun again, which is something that can be easily missed within the tragedy of this particular show. Romeo and Juliet has a ton of humor in it, and the enthusiasm of the actors helped convey the often overlooked humor. One of my favorite performances of the night was Amy Thone as Juliet’s nurse. The Nurse has always been one of my favorite characters in the show and it was so refreshing to see someone have a lot of fun with the role, especially in her interactions with Juliet. The Nurse isn’t just a motherly figure to Juliet, but is in many ways Juliet’s best friend who never shies away from an inappropriate joke or two. I really loved the scene added by the director in which Juliet, played by Gabriella O’Fallon, asks the Nurse to help her learn sign language in order to communicate with Romeo. Even though this scene isn’t in the original script, the expert performances by both of these actors never made me feel as if I had left the world they created on stage.
A large part of what kept me so engaged with the performance was how dynamic the staging felt. The set was fairly simple, only consisting of three sections of chain link fence and a stone box which were all on wheels and moved around throughout the performance. While the set didn’t outwardly convey a particular place, what it did was convey the emotions and limitations of the characters. Sometimes the fences would function as a physical barrier, especially during the second act as Romeo and Juliet become more and more distant. Though during some of the particularly happy moments in the show, such as the early meetings between the titular characters, the fences felt more like a playground structure more than a physical barrier. The actors would climb on and spin around effortlessly and it allowed the audience to feel the same kind of first-date whimsy as the lovers. To me, the set felt most useful and impressive during the fight scenes, in which all areas of the stage became so busy you felt as though you were caught within the chaos of the brawl. One of the most gut-wrenching parts of the production was Mercutio’s death, in which almost all activity on the stage stops as the one remaining piece of fencing slowly spins and allows the audience on all sides of the theater to take in what just happened.
Abbi Mancini: I think my favorite aspect of the show was how the ASL inspired the movement of the actors. I have been a dancer my whole life and am passionate about theater movement outside of the realm of dance. The ASL dictated how the actors moved around the stage, particularly those who only used ASL to perform their lines, Romeo and Friar Lawrence, played by Joshua M. Castille and Howie Seago respectively, both deaf performers, who allowed the intricate gestures to turn them when necessary, and flow throughout their bodies. This was shown delicately through Juliet as well, as she learns simple phrases in ASL she can use to describe her love to Romeo. She moves around the stage committing them to memory and they take her body up and down fluidly. This also happens at the end of the production, when Juliet delivers her final monologue before taking her own life in ASL, again, allowing her body to be moved through the space by her hands and arms. It was such a beautiful moment, already a heartbreaking scene made more touching through the use of this other language. For this particular moment, there wasn’t another actor translating what she was saying, an interesting choice, because at first I wanted in on the action, but after a few seconds I just saw the beauty of her using her body to say what she needed and understood that I do not have to understand in order to appreciate.
The use of sign language in a Shakespearean work was so beautiful, adding a new artistry to such poetic language and it felt fresh to me. The developments of sign languages cannot truly be tracked, as true visual languages as they are used today have altered as much as spoken languages. No form of sign language can be labeled as the first visual language, as it is unknown truly how far they each date back, that being said, The ACT took special care of translating Shakespearean dialogue into ASL, as many phrases do not have direct translations to modern American Sign Language and had to be created through the use of other signs. It reminded me of how Shakespeare created so many words and phrases that are popular today, a full circle moment of creating new world and phrases in order to properly deliver the beauty of the spoken language in a visual language.
I also really appreciated how the sign language was incorporated. Romeo performed his lines entirely through ASL. When it was just him speaking, or conversing with someone who also understands ASL, such as his cousin Benvolio, other actors stood around the stage and recited his lines in time. However, during scenes with characters who did not understand ASL, Romeo would often be accompanied by Benvolio, who translated the ASL to the other characters, as well as translating the spoken word to Romeo through ASL. This also was prevalent with Friar Lawrence who would use Friar John, played by Lindsay W. Evans who would also translate ASL for and to Friar Lawrence.
Included in the Encore Stages program provided by the ACT are discussions with those involved in the performance and the way ASL was incorporated. It was very interesting to read as it showed how much careful and deliberate thought was put into this production and the blending of hearing and deaf culture on the stage. Howie Seago is quoted directly in the program discussing the melding of the languages. He writes
“Romeo already has a target on him, but then you add being Deaf on top of that and that’s an entirely new level—an emotional, psychological layer on top of it. [In this production] we decided my character, Friar Lawrence, taught Romeo sign language. He came from a hearing family and, you know, they didn’t know what to do with a Deaf son. And so, as a Deaf person, as the Friar, I kind of adopted him in a way. Took him under my wing. Taught him language and raised him. So I have a lot invested in Romeo, more than the Friar might have in just a regular production.”
This choice could be seen so well through the bond Romeo shared with the Friar, him being one of the first on the scene when Romeo and Juliet have taken their lives for one another, and breathes life into why they have a bond in the first place. I was so happy to see the discussion and thought that went into this production as representation of deaf culture is necessary and finally being brought to life through performances such as these.
ABBI MANCINI & EVAN TRIBELHORN| KXSU Arts Reporters