As I was doing research on adaptations of the greeks, I found a very interesting production which mounted Ted Hughes’ adaptation of Seneca’s version of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex (yikes). The production was done in 2005 in New York at the Mint Theatre. What grabbed my immediate attention and praise was that the show was done by Theatre by the Blind, a company which was founded in 1979. The production included blind, impaired vision, and sighted actors but our title character says that he was “the most blind” out of all. The decision to mount this show with Theatre by the Blind first scared the artistic director who didn’t approve that Oedipus’ blinding was a punishment. After a while, he realized that the play was less about the self punishing blindness but about accepting one’s fate. I think this is yet another inspiring story of the power of the arts. How incrediably interesting to watch a blind man play a blind man at the end of Oedipus stating “I like this darkness.” Their typical show was usually a satire of sorts, so this tragedy was a larger undertaking. I think its extremely brave for a group of visibly impaired actors to work with seeing actors on such a heavy piece of text. This article talks about how sighted actor, Nicholas Viselli, didn’t feel much different working with the blind actors. “If anything”, he said, “blind actors tend to learn the script and absorb direction faster. When you are deprived of one sense, your other senses take things in.”
I love this. I love to hear about how someone who you may view as being impaired could actually have a large advantage in other areas of learning. It really forces you to reconsider you notions of impaired humans. They have a completely different set of circumstances to bring to the table which allows for a different process in their mind. It must be fascinating to watch them work through everything. I took Sign Language I last semester and I loved it. We talked about the culture surrounding the Deaf Community and the common misconceptions and altered ways of living. Their speech has different connotations and meanings and implications. I am thrilled to read and hear about the intergration of the deaf community in theatre. I was very happy to read that Lady Hamlet was the first black box show at CFA to include an ASL interpreted performance. I think its a great direction for the theatre to head. The same goes for this ambitious project in 2005 with the Theatre by the Blind.
