It’s a Near West Theatre tradition since 2003: A performance of our fall show is interpreted in American Sign Language. It’s a dramatic art unto itself that you should check out whether you know sign language or not. Four members of a Cleveland-area dramatic signing troupe, The HeArd, will interpret the regular 7:30 p.m. performance of Children of Eden Thursday, Nov. 29. Tickets can be reserved as usual ($20 Star Seat, $8 general adult, $6 general child); just indicate when ordering that you want to sit in the sign-language section. The interpreters sit near the front, face the audience under special lights, and deliver much more than a translation of sung and spoken words. Not only has the troupe learned the show, but each member has learned specific roles to play throughout the performance. They take their own emotional journeys, exchange dialogue, sign together in ensemble moments — presenting, in essence, an additional version of the play at the same time as the main-stage show. You can focus on either one, or, as I’ve experienced it, amazingly, pick up aspects of both at the same time. – Hans Holznagel
The HeArd members Merry Beth Pietila, Vince Reddy and Erin LaFountain interpret Godspell at Near West Theatre in 2005.
