Playbill: Broadway's revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange has announced an American Sign Language performance for April 15. The production began performances April 1 and will officially open April 20.
2 comments:
It is possible for productions to easily offer more accessible performances. I hope that including more shows that are more accessible becomes a routine thing for productions, especially in shows that run for months at a time. With technology making accessibility resources easier to implement, I’m surprised more productions haven’t made accommodations, like closed captioning, a permanent part of the show. While I am glad they included an ASL performance in honor of the cast member Alexandria Wailes and her advocacy work for accessibility in the performing arts, I hope that in the future it becomes more routine to feature occasional ASL performances. It seems to me that potential marketing opportunities exist among the almost half a million people in the United States communicating via ASL.
I read more about Alexandria Wailes and she has an incredible resume, performing internationally and taking on various roles such as director and choreographer in theater, television, and movies.
This article is very interesting, as on one hand, I think it is great for Broadway to offer more inclusive and accessible showings of productions. On the other hand, I do not understand why this has to be a "special thing". Why does this have to only happen once? Why can every show not include an interpreter or captioning? Personally, I do not believe having smaller captioning on the proscenium walls of the theatre ruins the experience for other audience members. I understand that having a full-person ASL singing the show might be distracting, but not captions. I have gone to performances before that have had these, and they have not disrupted my experience. The text could be small, and those seats could be reserved for those with auditory disabilities. I think it is unfair and disrespectful that the experience of those who can hear is prioritized over those with hearing disabilities. The theatre should be open to anyone.
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