Theatre Nerds: We all know the acting world is hard. A field that’s purely based on competition and image can naturally create a lot of pressure on us, the Actor’s. It can be even harder for deaf people at times. Now please understand I’m not saying that Non-Deaf Actor’s have it easy. However Deaf Actor’s can particularly face a whole other level of stress that Non-Deaf Actor’s don’t have to face.
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This article really demonstrated on a more personal levels, the challenges of being a deaf actor, especially in a climate which isn't accustomed to working with them. It's a reminder that passionate and talented deaf actors do exist, and as long as the company keeps an open mind, all of those problems can seem miniscule. The writer specifically talked about the difficulty and the stress that came along with listening to director instructions, and made the point that its difficult for non-deaf actors, but even more so for deaf actors. This I can imagine, because when you are listening to an edge director give notes, you never want to make them repeat themselves, but in the case of the deaf actor, they may need them to repeat it more than once. Patience is clearly incredibly crucial to this relationship working. I think it also shows the overall importance of patience while working in theater. Whenever things don't go our way, like cues don't work, or blocking is strange, we get angry. Being patient with everyone, and taking accountability for all of your own actions is incredibly important in creating more inclusive, thriving theater communities. This awareness, and use of patience will allow everyone to be more open to bringing more deaf actors onto the scene. That idea of someone who can't rely on cue lines or music as well as a non-deaf actor is incredibly intimidating, but by cutting them out we leave out fabulous actors and fabulous storylines.
I had to read the sentence “I have had cast member’s blame me if they didn’t hear the instructions correctly” three times before I believed I’d read it correct. Blaming a nearby Deaf person for your own misunderstanding makes so little sense. When I first read it I thought I’d misread it and the author meant people would be mean to them for mishearing things, which would still be unempathetic but would at least make sense. I think this article really shows the degree to which people make assumptions about what other people can and can’t do due to a disability, but really the person with the disability is the only one that knows what they can and can’t do. I think it is important to actively work against assumptions we make about other people, especially when it comes to assumptions about what they can or can’t do. It is important to give people a chance to really show who they are and what they can do.
Reading this article was very interesting for me because I do not personally know any deaf actors so I have never learned about the unique things that deaf actors have to deal with. When I read that actors blamed the deaf actors for not hearing instructions I was shocked. This just seems like something that makes no sense and if someone ever told me they couldn’t hear the instructions because of a deaf actor I just would not believe them. I am very upset that people think it is okay to blame someone else for their own mistakes especially in this situation. This author makes a very good point that I think everyone needs to remember is that when things don’t go our way, we can’t blame other people for them. People need to take responsibilities for their actions and be accountable for themselves. People need to stop making assumptions about other people and their situations and start trying to learn more about each other and what everyone goes through. The author is right that there is no community like the theatre community, and if we all understand each other more and take time to learn about each other, the theatre community can be that much better of a community, and I think this article is a good start to getting there.
Being an actor is a hard job. One needs to possess the ability to demonstrate the emotions and complexities of the character that they are portraying with complete conviction. But there are some actors in the world who have to deal with more than the aforementioned things: there own personal abilities and special abilities.
This article clearly demonstrates this situation. The article describes the lessons that a deaf actor learned in his life as an actor, and it is worth mentioning that those lessons are heart warming and effective.
Being a deaf actor helps people to develop patience because it takes a lot of tries to get the
nuances of the character on point because what is on the paper describing the character involves the reactions of the other actors on stage and if you cannot hear what they are saying, all you can rely on is your ability to analyse the facial expressions of the other actors on stage which is very hard.
A deaf actor is more aware of his surroundings than the "normal actors" are, because their lack of one sense has developed another sense of awareness for them, which they completely deserve.
This was a very interesting and eye-opening read. As considerate, open-minded and accepting any of us try to be, I think that sometimes we forget what others are truly going through. This is of course human nature and something we all fall to as we have not personally experienced those same challenges. It is a great reminder about what those around us might be going through and how we can continue to work on our level of consciousness and acceptance of where every individual may be in their life and circumstances. I also think that while theatre has in the last 10 years made some great strides towards inclusion and equity for many we still have not reached where we really should be as a whole. There is so much more room to make the theatre accessible for those in many stations of life and of all disabilities. I hope that we can see more theatres across the country make efforts towards this.
I love articles like this because it allows me to see into a perspective that I haven’t encountered before and better equips myself to understand some of the struggles that other people can have that are completely foreign to me. I thought it was also done in a respectful and friendly tone which I find tends to be effective in helping other people understand the issues that people are facing in a non-accusatory way. Of course, this article was written by an actor and discussed their perspective and some of the more specific issues that they face in their field. It’s beneficial to me even if I’m not working with deaf actors but am working with someone with hearing impairment in another role I’m aware of some of the general issues that might be facing them. Knowing these general issues allows me to check in and see if there is anyway I can ease or fix some of their specific issues they face in their role. Being aware and informed is so important when trying to create more inclusive theatre on all sides of the stage!
Divan Meyer, lets us know in his artcile “Lessons I’ve Learned As A Deaf Actor”, a “whole other levek of stress that Non-Deaf Actor’s don’t have to face. Divian since high school to now, has had to face doubt from his peers, but in highschool when playing the role of the king in cinderella he started his career of prove people wrong. He described that at “the end not only the audiences..[but] stunned [their] cast member’s in the show...Even[his] Director... [said they” did a way better job than he thought [he] would initially would have”. After all of his experience i an already hard industry, in this article he shares the wisdom he learned. As he said “I hope this article showed you that whether you’re deaf or not we aren’t so differnet”, and to incourage us to be able to go through the struggles you face, overcome, and learn from them.
This is article was very educational for me in the sense that I can be more aware when working with people who have disabilities. Often, people with disabilities are treated as an after-thought and it is important they also be brought to the front of the conversation with regular individuals. It is also heartbreaking to read about the struggles deaf people face when working on stage and what makes it worse is that non-deaf people tend to be ignorant and use it to cover up their mistakes. I completely appreciate the author telling his story and encouraging all individuals in theater to keep pushing and working hard.
As a diverse species we need diverse people onstage to portray our complex world. Any hindrance to that drags down not only the individual show but the industry as a whole. That is why this article is so important. It is so unfortunate and unfair that Meyer has had to work in such a hostile work environment. It's hard to hear about cruel people blaming other people for their poor performance especially when the complaint is ignorant and unfounded. Meyers example of cast members blaming him when they couldn't hear instructions is a prime example of this. Understanding the struggles of a deaf-actor is the first step to empathizing and learning to support your fellow cast mate. I appreciate Meyers courage to call out the industry and I hope his message is shared with future co-workers and people sharing this difficult industry in order to foster a supportive, well informed environment that can recognize blaming other people for your problems won't solve them and patience is a much needed industry standard. Weather it be waiting for a cue in tech to go perfectly right after an hour of practice of just being a decent human being while listening to the director repeat himself for someone else's benefit actors can use a little more patience.
I am working right now on the way that I handle working with someone with a disability and this article was super helpful. I think I am struggling with my ability to ask the questions that I need to ask and to make sure nothing gets missed without sounding like I am talking down to the person. I also didn't realize how much I would be stumbling over the way to have those types of conversations so articles like this have been very helpful for me the past couple weeks. I think as a country and as an industry we have to be better about not flinching when it comes to working with people with disabilities and the more we discuss it and hear from the people who deal with this every day the more that we are able to work with everyone and hear all peoples stories.
This is a really interesting article with a perspective that is not particularly easily accessible to the public eye. This is one of a million examples of how we don't really notice how privileged we are until an article like this, which literally lays out all the way in which someone's privilege, or lack thereof, drastically changes the way they live every day life. For some reason, one part that really stuck with me was when the author talked about needing to make sure they had backup hearing aid batteries in case they were to sweat through the ones they had at the top of show. That's such a miniscule thing with such a huge effect that I would never even begin to think of if it were not for this article. I also think it's interesting how the author keeps mentioning that acting is hard for everyone, but here are some other things that make it a little bit harder for deaf actors. I agree that acting is a difficult industry, but it really doesn't hold a candle to how hard the industry is for disabled actors.
Accessibility in theatre is something that is extremely important to me, and so I absolutely love reading articles like this that spread awareness about how we can continue to make theatre welcome and inviting place for everyone, regardless of ability. I really liked how this article was very personal and that the author really allows the readers to get a glimpse of life in the theatre as a deaf or hard of hearing actor. I especially appreciated the comments about how other cast members blame deaf, or disabled in general, actors, and how that is completely unprofessional and uncalled for in any circumstance. I completely agree with this statement and am glad that it is being pointed out and directly made clear that it is not okay. I hope more people continue to speak up about the accessibility and inclusiveness of theatre so that it can be a better community for everyone.
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