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The Big “D” Review

On Saturday, December 6, 2008, we attended the presentation of The Big “D”.

As was discussed in a previous article, The Big “D” was a performance/play about being big “D” Deaf. The play was about Patti Spicer and her life growing up and all the difficulties she overcame. During the nearly two hour performance, Patti Spicer interpreted many ordeals from her life, including a trip to Italy and getting separated from her party, the inability to speak with her hands to paramedics when she was involved in an accident, shunning from classmates during university, and more.

The play opened with a display of many labels that people with disabilities might come across, including “Odd”, “Broken”, “Weird”, etc. These labels are later ‘wiped away’ by the actors near the conclusion of the play, after the audience comes to realize that people that are deaf can do anything a hearing person can, they just cannot hear.

During the performance, the audience was enlightned with watching Patti Spicer, as well as other actors, communicate through sign language, which was then interpreted vocally. Singing and dancing were also part of the event, as well as, and most important of all, insight into another persons lifestyle and experiences.

User Comments

One Response to “The Big “D” Review”

  1. December 9th, 2008 at 8:53 PM


    Dusty says:

    I had made a recommendation to one of the actor’s that it would have been a clever idea to hand out sign language brochures afterward. It was quite inspiring walking out and despite the fact it is a play more than purely educational, I think it could have been taken a step further.

    Just to clarify: Patty Spicer is a real person who is actually “big D Deaf”, and also plays her own part.

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