The first local production with deaf and hearing actors to combine ASL and spoken text.
Twelfth Night
Presented by Amaryllis Theatre Company
October 2000
Peter Novak (project director)
Adrian Blue (master translator and sign consultant)
B.
"A fine 'Twelfth Night' in signing and speech"
"The Twelfth Night at the Prince Music Theater will go down in Philadelphia theater history, as the first local production cast with deaf and hearing actors that combines American Sign Language and spoken text."
C.
I find this version to be unconventional thanks to the fact that not only was it the first local production to have both signs and spoken text, but because of the problems in making the language work in both languages. My mother is hard of hearing and taught me ASL at a young age, the simple problem of ASL is that in ASL you do not fill in all the extra words that are conventional. You alway simply fill in the adjectives and adverbs with your own mind the fact that they made it flow into the different format of spoken verse to clear cut ASL is amazing and extremely abnormal.
2. A.
Lesbian Othello
Othello
The Shakespeare Performance Troupe
April 14,15,16 2005
Madelynn von Baeyer (Director)
B.
"Othello with a twist"
C.
I think the obvious thing that makes this production so unconventional other than the complete cast of females, is that Othello is a Lesbian. There were countless productions of Othello with all male casts but what really makes this version so unique is the fact that they are openly stating Othello as a lesbian. I would say that it holds close enough to the original concept that not everything is lost in the idea.
3.A.
A cast of 6 visually impaired actors.
Director George Ashiotis
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Presented by Theater Breaking Through Barriers
February 2007
B.
George Ashiotis, Ann Marie Morelli in TBTB Midsummer Nights Dream
C. I think what makes this show so unusual isn't the fact that the characters are almost blind, or the fact one in a wheelchair, but the fact that they shortened the cast list to a mere 6 people. The difficulty of short casting a show is the constant character and costume changes. These 6 visually impaired actors managed to do a show with a character list of at least 22 the shear timing of changes is amazing in the first place, but when you factor in that they all are extremely impaired visually it is almost impossible.
4.A.
Puppet version of Macbeth
Macbeth
Presented by Colla Marionette Company
April 2007
Artistic Director Barbara Gaines
Executive Director Criss Henderson
B.
The Scottish Play, Told With Sound and Fury and Puppets
“Macbeth,” a joint production of the Colla Marionette Company and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, consists of 130 puppets, 13 puppeteers and 7 actors. Above, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
C. This show was so interesting due to the way they took the extreme workings of Macbeth and combined the live actors with 130 different puppets. The fact that they managed to keep all hundred and thirty puppets flowing in and out of the show without mixing up the different entrances had to be far more of a challenge than was originally anticipated.
5.A.
Modern Nude Shakespeare
Macbeth
Presented by Washington Shakespeare Company
June 14- July 15, 2007
Director Jose Carrasquillo
B.
Daniel Eichner as Macbeth
"MacDuff in the buff: Nude Shakespeare sells despite critics"
C.
I have heard about Shakespeare in the past just for sheer selling tickets sake, that directors have made their actors strip bare, but this production was actually thought out before hand and had a purpose to it. The director wanted to get the show into a more of a human nature. The actors understood this and got comfortable in it. The fact that this version was successful in a modern world that such shows are almost unheard of is what really makes this show unusual.
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