Posts Tagged ‘Deafness’
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.
The Big "D" Poster
The Big “D” will be performed on December 4, 5 & 6 at the Medicine Hat College Theatre. The tickets cost $10 (as a donation) and are available right now at the college, but you can also get them at the door. The doors open at 7:30PM each night and the show starts at 8:00PM.
So what is “The Big D”? The Big D is a play/performance about being deaf or Deaf, or more specifically about people who are Deaf and what they go through being “big D’s”. The purpose of the performance is to give viewers a glimpse of the world in which Deaf people live. Notice my use of lower and uppercase deaf and Deaf, well, according to Deaf culture there is a difference between the two. Being deaf means you might be hearing impaired and may use a hearing aid or implant; however being Deaf means you are clinically or legally deaf.
Cast:
Deborah-Lee Balmer – Stage Manager, Actor – Garage Player
Dara Sutton – Actor – Garage Player
MacKenzie Porter – Actor, Singer – Garage Player
Mike McCoughlan
Kayla McLeod – Actor – Garage Player
Blair Lukacs – Actor – Garage Player
Hannah Amelia Rud – Actor – Garage Player
Sybil Eaglerib – Garage Player
Brandon Dorring
Patricia Spicer – Actor – Garage Player
Joanie Russel
James McCormick – Actor – Garage Player
Dr. Leslie Baldwin – Interpreter