Hearing with the Eyes

Episode 127

This episode examines the process of interpreting a play by Shakespeare, using Richard III (and other plays) as examples.   George talks about such areas as the positioning of the interpreter, the advantages of ASL, the use of rhetorical devices, and the need for preparation. In conclusion, George describes how he began interpreting plays by Shakespeare, and now appears to hold the record of interpreting more plays by Shakespeare than any person in the English-speaking world.

00:00 Intro
02:30 ASL and interpreting
03:25 Views of deafness
06:13 History and structure of American Sign Language/Interpreting
10:35 Positioning of the interpreter
15:58 Hamlet at West Virginia University
19:18 Language and expressing concepts
22:43 Parallelism in ASL
28:01 Anaphora in American Sign Language
29:07 Director’s vision
30:55 Need for preparation
34:20 Personal experience
36:10 Preparation
40:45 Conclusion
42:22 Sources
44:15 Future episodes
44:45 Outro


Describe the medical versus cultural views of deafness.
Which view would view a Deaf person as someone who needs to be “fixed?”
What view sees Deaf persons as a distinct group with their own language?
What is the appropriate form of sign language to use with a play by Shakespeare?is there a commonly used universal sign language?
What are the three main forms of stage locations for interpreters?
Which is the most expensive for a theatrical company?
Can ASL show rhetorical devices?
What is the majority of the work done by an theatrical interpreter?How can a computer be used by an interpreter to prepare for a gig interpreting a Shakespearean play?
What book does George suggest as the best for learning Elizabethan terms?

Transcript

00:00 Intro

GREENSLEVES EXCERPT

The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was. - these words are spoken by the character of Bottom in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream -   The line “The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen” - like much of Shakespeare, can be interpreted in many different ways that the Bard may not have even intended at the time is was written - such as a deaf individual communicating in sign language - in other words - using the eyes to hear.

  Welcome to Celebrate Poe.  My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 127 - Hearing with the Eyes. Unfortunately, the Ghost of Mr. Shakespeare will not be able to be here for this episode - But he and Mr. Poe will definitely be here for the next episode of Celebrate Poe as we explore some of Mr. Poe’s and especially Mr. Shakespeare’s works regarding dreams.

Before we dive into the main part of this episode, I want to mention Ricky 3 -  A Hip-Hop  Shakespeare Richard III in its second week at the awesome Taggart Ampitheater in Riverside Park in Indianapolis.  By the time this podcast episode drops, the first week of Ricky 3 will have already taken place, but you can still see Ricky 3 has its final week on July 28-30 at Taggart Ampitheater in Riverside Park in Indianapolis.

Doors open at 7 pm, show time is 8 p.m. and admittance is free

02:30 ASL and interpreting

On July 28, i will be interpreting the play for the deaf, and today’s podcast episode deals with that process of interpreting Shakespeare’s plays into American Sign Language. 

Now before I get into the meat of this podcast episode, I want to mention that I took a great deal of the material for this episode from a paper I wrote when I was doing Master’s work at the American Shakespeare Center.  The paper took over a year to do, and I really tried to make it more podcast like in content - whatever that is - for this episode. There is no way that I could devote this much time to any of the future episodes in this podcast - although I have done episodes in the past that seemed they took forever!

03:25 Views of deafness

To understand a bit about the nature of making a play accessible in a meaningful way, you first need to look a bit at the history of American Sign Language.   Now American Sign Language - or ASL - first developed - not as you might think - in England, but in France. And when forms of American Sign Language spread throughout the United States, there were basically two main attitudes that affected the views of the general public regarding deafness - the medical view and the cultural view. 

The medical view of Deafness sees most deaf people in terms of deficit – “broken” and “abnormal” versions of hearing persons. The cultural view sees Deaf people as whole individuals with an identity, language, and unique gifts.  I don’t mean to come across as harsh, but  a medical view would tend to view most Deaf persons as “not capable of understanding Shakespeare.” The medical view would tend to see English as a superior form of communication, and a Deaf person can only appreciate Shakespeare as a foreign language. 

On the other hand, the cultural view recognizes that American Sign Language is a unique language, and that Deaf people are worthy of respect. The cultural view would tend to view Shakespeare as relevant to the Deaf because of Shakespeare’s understanding of people and his greatness as a writer.  The cultural view would therefore believe that Shakespeare’s language should be made culturally accessible.

There is no universal sign language - and there are many different kinds of sign language in just the United States.  At one end of the sign language continuum are sign languages exemplified by Signing Exact English, where every word and word ending is signed in English word order.  This form of interpreting is impractical in performing arts interpreting because it is aesthetically unpleasing and takes at least twice as long to sign.  Signing Exact English ideally shows every word and word ending, and while theoretically effective in situations where it is important to understand every word in English, its use in interpreting Shakespeare is more theoretical than practical.  The result of signing a play by Shakespeare in Signing Exact English is that the interpreter quickly falls behind the actors.  In many cases in Signed English, it takes three or four signs to sign all the prefixes, suffixes etc. - all based on English - to communicate just one word.

06:13 History and structure of American Sign Language/Interpreting

At the other end of the spectrum is American Sign Language (ASL), the language used by the vast majority of the Deaf Community in the United States and Canada.  American Sign Language is composed of manual gestures called signs in combination with various types of non-manual grammar (such as, appropriate facial expression and body movement.)  ASL is a separate language, and has a grammar that does not reflect the grammar of English.  ASL is the form of sign language that most Deaf people use among themselves, and could be considered the natural language of the Deaf. 

But getting back to the translation of a play - in this case - Shakespeare into American Sign Language - and I am not trying to oversimplify this or diminish the process of translating the written word - but the act of translating a play into American Sign Language is an active process - an action that requires a great deal of preparation.American Sign Language is a separate language with its own word order and grammar - it is NOT English on the hands.  I know the term signer is frequently used, but I am going to try and stick to translator or ASL translation because ASL is a separate language.     

To understand the development of interpreting for the deaf as a discipline and a profession I first want to briefly - very briefly - look at the history of interpreting for the deaf in the United States -

Now the very first group of professional interpreters met right here in Indiana for a workshop at Ball State Teachers College.  This was during the summer of 1964 - the year the Beatles came to the United States for the first time - so it really has not been that long.   Before then there was nothing that resembled a structured system for interpreting for the Deaf.

Now fast forward - so to speak - to 1990.

With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), theatrical companies and venues were required to provide access to theatrical patrons with disabilities. Often, efforts to meet ADA regulations concentrated on providing access for individuals with mobility concerns, such as the installation of elevators, ramps, and handrails. Except for any possible financial hardship, such endeavors are relatively easy to implement. Providing interpreting services to make Shakespeare accessible to Deaf individuals, however, is a comparatively complex task, This podcast episode deals with translating Shakespeare’s plays from the source language (Shakespeare's English) into the target language (American Sign Language.)

To clarify that, if a person is signing/translating a play into American Sign Language - the spoken language is the source language, and the ASL interpretation is the target language.   Think - and here comes one of my memory aids - you have a source language that you are working from - and you need to communicate it to your target audience - S to T - think saint - source language to target language. S - T  Now if you were signing a Deaf person’s lecture to a group of hearing people, then American Sign Language would be the source - or original - language and English would be the target language.

Got that?

10:35 Positioning of the interpreter

The positioning of the interpreter or interpreters can be a genuine creative and even financial challenge. Just as good acoustics are necessary for a hearing person to hear a play's actors, the location of the interpreter is essential for a Deaf person to understand the play's text.  The best translation and interpreting efforts are useless if the interpreter cannot be seen easily.  In the words of interpreter Dan McDonall, “Just as in real estate, interpreting in the theatre often comes down to three key issues: location, location, location.”

The “placed” style of interpreting is the most common interpreting strategy for a play by Shakespeare, and requires the least rehearsal time. In the placed style, the interpreter  is located outside of the acting space, and seldom changes location.  Usually an interpreter requires a spotlight so he or she can be seen, and simply turning the body to show who is speaking can do a lot to clarify what is going on in the play.

On the other hand, the zoned interpreter - and no, I don’t mean the stoned interpreter - puts the interpreter in the acting zone. In “zoned” interpreting, the interpreter is located within the acting space, but usually moves only during a change of scene or act, or during an especially dramatic section for emphasis.  The goal is to place the interpreters within the same "zone" as the majority of the action, therefore making it easier for the Deaf patrons to see the signing and actors at the same time. An example of this placement was at a 2002 production at the Blackfriars in Stanton, Virginia of  The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.  During Act III, for example, the actor playing Marc Antony ran up to the second level of the stage, while I accompanied him, and stood beside the actor to sign the 'friends, Romans, and countrymen” speech over Caesar's body.

The state of the art strategy for interpreting a play is the shadowed style where interpreters move freely within the acting space, shadowing the movement of the actors.  This is the most inclusive style of interpreting a play and provides the best sight lines for the Deaf audience,  The shadowed style of placement requires that the interpreter be “blocked” into each scene and literally shadow the actors.  This style of interpreting is by far the most “Deaf friendly,” and provides the most opportunity for a great deal of creativity.  While elements of the “zoned” style often overlap the “shadowed” style, this strategy can allow for a great deal of creativity by integrating the interpreter into the action of the play. 

During a 2001 production of The Life and Death of King Richard the Third at the Blackfriars, the actor playing Richard (after killing the other actors on stage), raced to me while I was interpreting on the right side of the stage, and appeared to run his sword into me.  Of course, I had practiced this with the actors  Then, I fell to the floor, only to come back to life to sign the “a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse'” speech and then die again.  In a miraculous series of regenerations, when someone said another line, I would keep coming “back to life” until he did not have any more lines to sign.   You could say I was the “zombie interpreter”

This was the last performance of the play for the seasons and I think the actors - a wild group of people were becoming more than a little punchy  Or should I say more punchy than usual.

Now a major drawback of this infrequently used style is that there is constant possibility that the interpreter will physically stumble over an actor.  In its purest form, the shadowed style of interpreting requires an interpreter for each cast member, a process that most theatre companies would find just too expensive and downright cumbersome.  But in the shadowed style, he interpreter often takes on alter-ego like qualities, and both the Deaf and hearing audiences tend to see an interpreter as someone adding another dimension to communication, instead of being an appendage.  This style of interpreting is generally only mounted by groups having an extremely strong commitment to accessibility, a great deal of money, and are able to easily work with deaf actors.

And then there are times when you just have to go with whatever seems to work best.

15:58 Hamlet at West Virginia University

One of the coolest interpreting gigs I ever had was at the University of West Virginia - they have a great drama department, and were doing a great production of Hamlet - with Hamlet dressed in a punk outfit, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as two over the top gay lovers.  The director of the play was especially sensitive to the needs of Deaf people - one of the interpreters was his wife - but there was no way we could have several interpreters on stage.  The stage was seven levels and there were lots of sword fights and the characters were constantly running up and down the stairs - it would have been a nightmare.  So each of the four interpreters sat at a corner of the stage  - and when - say the King spoke - a spotlight would shine on the actor playing the King, and a spotlight would simultaneously shine on the interpreter signing the lines.  I was blown away at how the lighting people could keep this straight.

Each interpreter had specific parts - usually more than one - along that line of thought, most scholars believe that was similar to Shakespeare’s original troupe of players where the ROLES were frequently doubled - in other words, a person might play more than one role.

There were four interpreters - the three ladies divided all the parts except for Hamlet.   I signed Hamlet’s role, and since Hamlet has more than half the lines, it was a really big part.  The original Hamlet is over 5 hours, but this was cut down to a decent length - there was a huge group from the West Virginia School of the Deaf, and I could not imagine them - or anyone else for that matter - watching a play for over 5 hours.

We wondered at first if elementary students would get into Shakespeare, but at the end of the play, they treated the actor who played Hamlet like a rock star. 

BTW - this version of Hamlet ended with the character dying and saying “The rest is silence.”

On the night that a group of deaf students saw the play,  when it was time for Hamlet to die, the actor looked at the audience, paused, and signed in ASL (without saying a word) - continue - silence - From the actor’s actions, it was obviously that Hamlet was dying - and for once, the deaf audience was the only group who knew exactly what he was saying. 

Now I know it can be hard to describe a sign’s meaning in words - but the concept in English that Hamlet signed was “for the rest of eternity, everything will be complete silence.”  He collapsed, and there was complete silence.  You could have heard a pin drop.  I still get chills when I think about it.

19:18   Language, Concepts, and Rhetorical Devices     

It could be argued that you are interpreting from Shakespeare’s English - to a second language - present day English - and then American Sign Language.  Elizabethan England has a unique vocabulary -,  and differs a great deal from the English we speak today.  Just to use one example - when Shakespeare users the word “divers” he is not talking about an Olympian or someone who jumps into a pool - but divers in Shakespeare’s time meant “various.”  So if you heard that word in a play by Shakespeare, you would sign “various.”

An old maxim in American Sign Language is “sign what you mean, not what you say.”  This belief is especially true in interpreting Shakespeare for the Deaf, where conveying the appropriate concept is the most important task facing the sign language interpreter.  An informed translation can also communicate the dynamics of Shakespeare's meter and rhetoric to a Deaf audience while making accessible some of the most beautiful words ever written.

At the other end of the spectrum is American Sign Language (ASL), the language used by the vast majority of the Deaf Community in the United States and Canada.  American Sign Language is composed of manual gestures called signs in combination with various types of non-manual grammar.  ASL is a separate language, and is the form of sign language that most Deaf people use among themselves. In other words, it could be considered the natural language of the Deaf. 

American Sign Language uses the entire body as an integral part of communication to convey information.  A good interpreter can use the multi-dimensional characteristics of ASL to amplify the text and match the style of the actor.  An example might show what I mean - In the play King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2, Lear uses his entire body to “become' the wind in his “Blow winds, and crack your cheeks!” speech. 

Unlike English, signs in ASL can be signed differently depending on the concept's context and meaning. English would use one word for two different meanings of “meet,” in Hamlet, such as “If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus,” and  “For such a guest is meet”,  ASL would use a different sign for the two meanings of “meet” in this case - “to physically meet” and “appropriate” in this case.

Let me say that again - totally different signs would be used for the word “meet’ in “For such a guest is meet” - to physically meet - and “For such a guest is meet” - meet meaning appropriate.

22:43 Parallelism in ASL

As I have mentioned before, both Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare - studied many of the same subjects such as classical rhetoric when they attended school in England during their youths - even though they were separated by almost 300 years.  One rhetorical technique Poe and Shakespeare undoubtedly learned was parallelism.
Even speakers today use classical rhetorical devices to communicate with their audiences.  Just to use one example, during President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address, he famously said,

JFK VOICE: Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.

Parallelism is expressing and balancing two ideas - something that can be very pleasing to the ears.

A similar way of expressing parallelism can be expressed in American Sign Language - it might take some work to figure it out - but can be very pleasing to the eyes.

This can probably be expressed by using what is perhaps the most famous line in all of Shakespeare - “to be or not to be, that is the question” in Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1. 

Here is that line in an original recording by John Barrymore - one of the greatest actors of all time.   Some of you might know him better as Drew Barrymore’s grandfather.

John Barrymore’s voice “To be or not to be, that is the question.”

I think that line is especially moving in this situation because this was at a time in his life when John Barrymore was facing his own mortality.

That line is made up of 10 words - and to top it all, none of them are really American Sign Language - ASL has no state of being verbs, and the other concepts can be expressed though non manual motions - first analyze the statement - Hamlet is weighing two  alternatives - life - or to be and - death - or not to be - then he shows that deciding between life and death is the question or dilemma - a signer can therefore sign life with one hand on one side and death with one hand on the other - showing that they are alternatives - then the signer can look out at the audience with lowered eyebrows - in ASL that means this is a which statement - a choice between two alternatives - and the signer can make it even clearer by looking back and forth between the right and left hands to emphaize the decision between life and death - of course, it would probably be physically impossible for an ASL interpreter to figure out the best way to sign what he or she believes Shakespeare meant in “to be or not to be” on the spot - it takes a lot of planning and figuring out how it all fits together.  And instead of signing 10 words - again = none of which are technically American Sign Language - the interpreter is signing 3 concepts - much easier to see and a lot easier on the interpreter’s hands!

In fact, a deaf person’s perception of the rhythm of the hands is quite different from a hearing person's perception of the rhythm of speech.  In  a play where the lines are spoken at a  conversational speed, the actors typically speak at a rate of approximately five syllables per second, or roughly three simple words.  Producing a single ASL sign requires roughly twice the amount of time as a single English word so it is far more important to sign every concept than to get hung up on every little word.
ASL various enough from English in structure that an ASL sentence can be signed in roughly the same time as the corresponding English sentence.
And as an added bonus - the deaf audience sees (instead of hears) the parallelism of life and death - deciding between two choices.

It amazes me that Shakespeare was able to write plays with hundreds of lines full of meaning in what must have been the relatively short time of the theatrical season.

Of course, it the interpreter has a different interpretation of the line “to be or not to be” - such as to reach your potential versus live a humdrum life - the signs would be quite different - but I don’t think that is what Shakespeare meant.  My interpretation is that Shakespeare - in the character of Hamlet - is considering an existential choice - life or death.

28:01 Anaphora in American Sign Language

To use another example of the many cases of classical rhetorical in Shakespeare, all you have to do is look at his use of anaphoria - oh, and before you say - what in the heck is anaphora?   Well, anaphora, is defined as the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.  Anaphora can be expressed in American Sign Language though an emphasis on the words or group of words being repeated.  For example, the interpreter can emphasize the sign for “this” in “This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise.” in The Life and Death of King Richard the Second Act 2 Scene 1.

29:07 Director’s vision

The sign language interpreter should also be aware of the director's vision so that he or she can do a better job in conveying the artistic philosophy of the production.  For example, in Twelfth Night the director could conceivably might that the  play's major themes are love and death.  The interpreter should ideally reflect this in his or her choice of signs. The opening lines are -

“If music be the food of love, play on;
  Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
  The appetite may sicken, and so die.
  That strain again! it had a dying fall”
     Twelfth Night, Act 1 Scene 1   

The interpreter may decide to replace “music” with “harmony” because music is not a culturally sensitive sign to the Deaf community.  Instead of using one movement for “appetite,” the interpreter could make two movements, and express a different kind of hunger - “sexual appetite.” or “sexual passion.” Such an ASL interpretation reflects one of the Elizabethan meanings of “die” as sexual intercourse.  The concept of “a dying fall” can be powerfully expressed as “decline in health” - a sign that implies the deterioration of the body, as well as death.

You have to take interpreting a play by Shakespeare very seriously, but not too seriously.  After all, striving for perfection can be extremely admirable - but expecting perfection - whatever that is - is psychotic.

In other words, don’t take yourself too seriously - no matter what you are doing.

30:55 Need for preparation

In conclusion, the majority of the work done by a sign language interpreter of Shakespeare is preparation.  Once when I mentioned to a lady that I was interpreting a Shakespearean play, she told me that she had taken two sign language classes, and seriously said that she would be glad to sign with me - a case of not knowing what you don’t know - and that is being generous.  Interpreting a Shakespearean play is the culmination of knowledge that the interpreter has gained regarding the meaning of the play, and how to convey Shakespeare's language in a culturally sensitive manner to an ASL user.   At a minimum, the interpreter should definitely attend as many rehearsals as practical, and hopefully see the finished product with an audience before signing so that he or she knows how to incorporate ASL into the unique dynamics that each production presents. Of course interpreting using the “placed” or “shadowed” strategies will require that the interpreter practice on stage with the actors.

Ideally the interpreter should be extremely familiar with the play's content and the concepts should be as second nature as possible. By the time the interpreter is signing, it is far too late to be confronted for the first time with the meaning of words.  But for practical reasons, the interpreter should be extremely careful, and not physically practice signing the play a great deal.  The interpreter does not want to be “burned out” and develop carpal tunnel syndrome for the performance.  A much better approach is to be mentally prepared by watching a good video production of the play.  The BBC series is especially useful because it includes all of Shakespeare’s plays.  The Archangel series is also good to play over and over while listening to on your phone or at home at the interpreter's convenience. The repetition of the language allows the interpreter to become more comfortable with the lines spoken by actors, and able to keep up with the demands of the performance.
The best approach is therefore to be physically fit and fresh, as well as mentally prepared and alert. Lots of preparation is absolutely necessary, but physically over practicing with your hands is one of the worst things you can do.

Interpreting a play by Shakespeare is one of the most difficult assignments an interpreter will ever encounter.  The job can require hours of preparation, and a complete immersion into Shakespeare's use of language.  The actual interpreting performance is at once humbling and exhilarating.  The interpreter realizes that he or she is in the presence of greatness, and the best that person can ultimately do is point to the majesty of Shakespeare's genius. At the same time,  the interpreter may even be overpowered with the breathtaking feeling that he or she is helping to facilitate the understanding of the greatest words in the English language.

34:20 Personal experiences

Now I couldn’t finish this episode without talking about how I got into this field -

Several years ago,  I was working as a dorm counselor at the Virginia School for the Deaf in Staunton where I lived. I had a degree in interpreting for the deaf from King College, but was coming to the conclusion that I pretty much had a useless degree until I got a telephone call out of the blue that changed everything.  You see, I got a telephone call - this was way before cell phones - from a lady at the newly built Blackfriars Playhouse - later the American Shakespeare Center - she asked me if I would be interested in interpreting “The Winter’s Tale.” I certainly did not realize it at the time, but that call was to change my life.  To summarize, I went on and did graduate work at Mary Baldwin University in affiliation with the American Shakespeare Center - so I really got into Shakespeare and ended up interpreting all their plays - and they did about 16 plays a year - most of them by Shakespeare and a few, like A Christmas Carol, were just plain fun.

Since “The Winter’s Tale,” I have interpreted 26 separate productions of plays by Shakespeare.  I try to keep up with other productions of plays by Shakespeare that are interpreted for the deaf, and I think I have had the opportunity to interpret more Shakespearean plays than anyone on the planet.  And each play is a real challenge that requires months of preparation.

Preparation

Now I want to address something that I obviously I couldn’t do this when I first started interpreting Shakespeare - computers were not commonplace at all - and this was way before the first PCs or Macs - not to mention the internet - but now I start with downloading the specific play from the MIT site - they have all of Shakespeare’s plays and are a good source.

Then I put the specific play into a table with 2 columns - the original on one side, beside a column for an ASL gloss of Shakespeare’s words.  Now let me emphasize that there is no exact word for word equivalent to the Bard’s English - the gloss is basically a reminder of the concept to be signed - for example - to be or not to be in one column - and life death which in the column beside it - it takes at least a few minutes to figure out a good translation that really works - something you can’t do on the spot while you are interpreting.

Making the blank table and cutting and pasting the original Shakespeare takes seconds - figuring out what the words mean, the concepts expressed, and how best to communicate them can take months.  Then I go over and over the concepts while listening to the spoken words - the goal is to be able to get on stage and when I hear the words, I don’t have to really think about what to sign.  In a sense, it is almost like improvisational jazz.  The signs just come out because they FEEL right.

By the way, there are all kinds of excellent sources out there with the meanings of the words - not just the net - and I have included some of them in the sources section at the end of this episode.  My absolute favorite is
Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion by David Crystal,

One brief example - in Richard III - the play I will be interpreting this Thursday night - there is a line that refers to a character as “well struck in years.”  I don’t think many people would know how to sign that without preparation - when you learn that “well struck in years” means old, then when you hear the words well stuck in years, your mind immediately thinks old - and you can sign the archaic sign for old.  Without preparation, this would be impossible.

You are always making changes and improvements - for example, I have been interpreting plays by Shakespeare for more years than I care to think about - and this year was the first time that I recorded the edited script and played it over and over - since I feel about 97 percent of interpreting a Shakespeare play is preparation I have had several what you might call “dress rehearsals” - this year Richard III is approximately an hour for each of the two acts, and I listen to my recording of the edited script while walking for an hour though the forest behind my apartment.  Then I turned around, play the second half, and mentally interpret it. The idea is to build up your memory of how the lines should be signed in ASL - building up a recall of the words that you have recorded - and of course you have a continuous physical exercise - walking for two hours - at the same time - and take it from me - interpreting for two hours or so when you are on stage can be physically draining if you are out of shape.  Oh, I guess you could swim vigorously with a pair of underwater headphones to practice - but the movements of the strokes would really do a number on your hands and shoulders.

  Conclusion

In conclusion, when I attended the American Shakespeare Center (affiliated with Mary Baldwin University,) I was fortunate enough to study under Dr. Ralph Allan Cohen.  In Shakesfear and How to Cure it, Dr. Cohen has written that when we value Shakespeare works, we often perpetuate our own language and cultural norms, while suppressing other languages and cultures - that “in teaching Shakespeare we are imposing the granddaddy of DWEM's – dead, white, European males – on students who are not dead, may not be white, may not be of European extraction, and may not be male.” 

From the perspective of a Deaf individual experiencing a play, Shakespeare is often perceived as just another HEARING, dead, white European male, who is often viewed as the ultimate hearing - and unaccessible - figure because of his mastery of the English language.  Therefore the optimal purpose of an informed ASL sign language interpretation of a play by Shakespeare is 

1) To make the greatest writer in the English language accessible and meaningful to Deaf individuals
2) Communicate non-verbally to hearing individuals that Shakespeare is relevant to ALL people.

Sources include

Richard III by William Shakespeare, Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying the Works of Shakespeare, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom, Shakesfear and How to Cure It, by Ralph Alan Cohen, The Reader’s Encyclopedia of Shakespeare by Oscar Campbell, ed, Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion by David Crystal, volumes one and two of Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary by Schmidt, Alexander Siigning Shakespeare by George Bartley , and the Indianapolis Shakespeare Web site at www.indyshakes.com

Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe - a deep dive into the life, times, and works of America’s Shakespeare - Edgar Allan Poe.

44:15 Future Episodes

The next episode of Celebrate Poe deals with the three dream sequences in Richard III and compares them with Poe’s “Dream Poems”  My favorite dream sequence in Richard III is the last one when King Richard dreams about all the people he has killed to achieve his goals.  This episode ends with Mr. Shakespeare talking about some of the  other references to dreams in his other plays

44:45   Outro

GREENSLEEVES