SHOW RESOURCES

PART 1: GESTURES AND VGC vs ASL

(VD: Norah Matthews sits in front of a plain blue background wearing a teal shirt, a black button-down blouse, with teal and silver dangling earrings and a silver necklace of silver circles. She is also wearing a few silver rings and a ponytail on her wrist. She has her long, light brown hair styled half up, half down, and is wearing some makeup. Norah is signing in ASL, and there are white closed captions in English on the bottom of the screen. Her message is as follows:

“Hi! I’m Norah Matthews. [(She shows her name sign, which is her right index finger tapped twice on the right corner of mouth) and my role in this show, Here, All Dwell Free is the Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL).”

A black screen with white text reads “What are some similarities and differences between gesturing and ASL?”

Norah nods. She signs: “Gesturing is more universal, more...cinematic. ASL is a language, which has its own rules, such as vocabulary, grammar, structure, the list goes on. Visual Gestural Communication has rules (grammar, structure) as well. It’s just more….I don’t want to call it ‘simple’ but it’s more...um...the word is not coming to mind...it’s more...visual, it’s more iconic. The meaning is clear, the intention is clear. For example, a person walking [she shows her two fingers moving like legs]. Another example is a growing tree [she uses her arm and grows like a tree, open hand shape. Her fingers are like branches, one of which bears fruit, which she shows using her hand in a bulb-shape] VGC is Iconic, meaning the message is easily conveyed and established. There’s no need to figure it out. ‘Chicken,’ for example. I sign ‘chicken’ like this [her pointer finger and thumb touch twice near the corner of her mouth] or [her pointer finger and thumb tap together on her other hand’s open palm] For VGC, ‘chicken’ could be this: [she bobs her head back and forth, arms like wings, mouth opening like a beak]. That’s more gestural, more visual, and more understood -- that’s iconic. The ‘chicken’ sign, what’s that? For context, this ‘chicken’ sign [3-handshape scraping the opposite palm] is from the Midwest (a region of the USA). The 3-handshape is like the chicken’s feet. This sign [pointer-finger thumb together on opposite palm] is like its beak. It IS iconic, however, it’s still an established vocabulary word. It’s not a gesture, although, you could gesture ‘chicken’ like this [she uses the pointer finger-thumb together handshape and ‘pecks’ at the opposite palm to show the beak eating feed off the ground] So in gesturing, you can (use that sign for ‘chicken’) but you still need to be visual and show [the chicken gesture]. In ASL, you don’t have to (just sign ‘chicken’).

A black screen with white text reads “Why is VGC more accessible than ASL?”

Norah answers: “VGC is more accessible for all and more universal. Anybody can see it and understand. ASL is accessible to those who understand ASL, or to those who have access to an interpretation or interpreter that can provide information in whatever language they need it to be. VGC is more accessible.

A black screen with white text reads “THANK YOU NORAH!” New white text appears on the black screen, green text highlighting the show, as it reads “Here, All Dwell Free opens on June 3rd. Register for your FREE ticket today!”

End of video.

PART 2: ASL BOOTCAMP AND ITS BENEFITS

(VD: A black screen with white text reads “What is ASL Bootcamp, and how is it helpful?”

Norah Matthews sits in front of a plain blue background wearing a teal shirt, a black button-down blouse, with teal and silver dangling earrings and a silver necklace of silver circles. She is also wearing a few silver rings and a ponytail on her wrist. She has her long, light brown hair styled half up, half down, and is wearing some makeup. She is signing in ASL, and there are white English captions on the bottom of the screen. Her message is as follows:

Norah nods. She signs: “ASL bootcamp was an idea developed by the team. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were full company rehearsals. We held rehearsals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights to focus on translation. Our first week, we really focused on the hearing [actors] and tried to develop their skills with gesturing and with physical expression. The desire behind casting Deaf/HH people is that we tend to provide more authentic gestural experience, more real expression. Hearing people don’t tend to communicate like that — gesturing is not part of their upbringing. If their upbringing happens to have a lot of gesturing, it’s easier for them to try to gesture during bootcamp. Deaf people already do that every day, so I don’t have to focus on them. So in our first week, hearing [students] focused on gesturing, discussing their experiences with Deaf people, or how to go about that experience, discussed audism, how to be a better ally [for the Deaf community]…One thing I had to remind myself is a lot of the process for ASL bootcamp was catering to NYU students, so this constituted not only a theatre environment, but also an educational environment. I had to teach them a skill set that they can add to their resume and life experience and bring out into the world. I taught them about gesturing. A lot of this production aligns with Synetic Theatre in Alexandria or Arlington (one of those two towns in Virginia, I think). Their production type is typically gestural acting. They pull from any story, in any sphere, and transform into gestural, physical storytelling, all of those things. It’s not impossible for hearing people to do it, so we worked on those. ASL bootcamp really benefited hearing people. The second, third, and fourth weeks we focused on whoever needs it based on notes from the previous weekend rehearsal and the upcoming weekend rehearsal. On the weekends we focus on what we’re doing [with the whole group], so we need to figure out which concepts we’re covering, then grab people to work in groups and teach gestures. Again, first week was teaching and clarifying gestures, no lines or translations [yet]. And then we progressed from there.

That first week was really helpful, because moving forward, each actor began to create for themselves, and it wasn’t all on me. I would check in and ask ‘How would you gesture this line?’ And they would get to work and try. Sometimes I would look at a line and have no idea and say [to the actor] ‘you tell me!’ Oh!!! One time I was working on a line with Joyelle, who played the Child Psyche, one of the 3 Psyches. Her line was ‘A world of Daddy’s design.’ [English translation] I asked her, ‘How would you translate and gesture this line?’ She came up with: ‘WORLD-DAD-BLOCKS’ I said ‘Oh! Go for it! It’s perfect, it fits’ It’s not–it was nice to see her understanding that expression and going for it. That reduces my creative burden and really empowers the actors to express and create their own. When this show is complete and they go out and meet Deaf people, they won’t be so afraid of gesturing because of their learning experience now. When hearing actors finish with this show, they can go out into the Deaf world, not have to worry, and try using gestures. And you know, we Deafies love when people try to communicate with us! We appreciate your effort. It doesn’t matter if your signing is bad or if you’re clueless, but when you try to communicate and connect with us, we appreciate it. When these hearing students got involved in this production, this skill they’re learning goes beyond this show. It’s for their future experiences. They will continue to be part of theater. They are future allies. ASL bootcamp is a fun time for me to connect. Sometimes we chat so much and remember ‘Oh right, let’s get back to this, remember to practice your line.’ Not only does ASL bootcamp really benefit hearing people, it’s also a great time to sit down with Deaf people. One time, Anjel, who plays the inner Maiden, we worked together one-on-one, super focused on how to translate the song, rhythm. If a translation didn’t work for a certain line or it looked funny, we went ahead and changed it. We had the opportunity to really work together. JW Guido (who plays the King), too! We worked together on song translation. Any time you’re involved in Deaf theatre, or an ASL presented production, you must spend a good chunk of time and invest in translation. A lot of people assume it’s just “copy and paste” when it comes to translating, but if you want ASL to be equal to English, you really need to build in time for translation.

ASL Bootcamp is really beneficial for both hearing and Deaf cast. It benefits me. One of the benefits is preparation time. We would arrive at rehearsal with everything we need. It’s nice.”

A black screen with white text reads “THANK YOU NORAH!” New white text appears on the black screen, green text highlighting the show, as it reads “Here, All Dwell Free opens on June 3rd. Register for your FREE ticket today!”

End of video.)

PART 3: STORY THEMES AND REFLECTION

(VD: A black screen with white text reads “Why should I see Here, All Dwell Free?”

Norah Matthews sits in front of a plain blue background wearing a teal shirt, a black button-down blouse, with teal and silver dangling earrings and a silver necklace of silver circles. She is also wearing a few silver rings and a ponytail on her wrist. She has her long, light brown hair styled half up, half down, and is wearing some makeup. She is signing in ASL, and there are white English captions on the bottom of the screen. Her message is as follows:

“Because it’s...whew. It’s the type of play, if you believe in feminism, if you believe in anti-audism, if you believe in equality for all, and have shared experiences, then you should watch this show. This is a show that will make you think, it will make you reframe and discover what it means to reconnect with your past, what it means to connect with your roots, with who you are as a person, your personal journey..because a lot of this show discusses personal journey, growth, struggles, possibilities, perseverance….a lot of these themes align with what’s happening right now with the pandemic. Even Though, people are getting vaccinated (my second shot is tomorrow! Might mean I spend saturday in bed, who knows). The pandemic really forced many people to look inward and face the reality of our mental health’s real state, what it really looks like. We tend to stay invested in our everyday lives. We have to notice what’s happening internally with our mental health. But we avoid and ignore it. And then the pandemic happened, and it really hit us. We had to take it, evaluate, think about it, go on that journey. I do feel like people will come out of the pandemic as better human being, better people. Definitely for me, I feel, after experiencing the before and aftermath of COVID-19, I feel more real, more me, more “Ok, my masking behavior and habits need to stop. It’s time to stop that. It’s time to be authentic, it’s time to be honest, and real, and aware, to see the world.” It’s a nice parallel with this show. It’s a real journey of “you thought this was ok but it was wrong,” and that progression, that change. It’s nice to see that journey and feel the parallel [of our lives]..connecting with the past, connecting with roots, connect with nature. The Wild Woman who is very expressive, has a fire burning within.. “Where’s that fire, where’s that spark, where’s that grit?” It unleashes. Resilient , persistence...that’s why people should watch. There’s a striking parallel.

If you’re a feminist, if you want to connect with your personhood, to heal your mother wound, to connect with your wild side, connect with that part of you...if you want to see a show created to be accessible for all, then this show is definitely for you to watch. It will make you think, it’s not easy or fluffy or light. It’s meant for you to hone in. There’s a lot of metaphors, a lot of connection. You will recognize the metaphors and make connections. It’s a parallel of reality, of how we need to evaluate ourselves, bring out our wild sides, our roots. At one time, people walked barefoot and now no one can walk outside without shoes. For us now, where’s that wild side? Basically, if you want to see that parallel, watch a story about transformation, journey, identity, about healing, a really important theme in our show. Healing...that last line “to watch over the souls’ journeys in these dark and wild woods” [DARK WILD TREE (SOUL HESITANT) SPIRIT (FOLLOW AT A DISTANCE)] That healing, that intent to hold and cherish unifies people.”

A black screen with white text reads “THANK YOU NORAH!” New white text appears on the black screen, green text highlighting the show, as it reads “Here, All Dwell Free opens on June 3rd. Register for your FREE ticket today!”

End of video.)

PART 4: CHARACTER GESTURE NAME SIGNS

(VD: A black screen with white text reads “Describe your process on coming up with character name signs”

Norah Matthews sits in front of a plain blue background wearing a teal shirt, a black button-down blouse, with teal and silver dangling earrings and a silver necklace of silver circles. She is also wearing a few silver rings and a ponytail on her wrist. She has her long, light brown hair styled half up, half down, and is wearing some makeup. Norah is signing in ASL, and there are white closed captions in English on the bottom of the screen. Her message is as follows:

“But the character name signs? Whew. At first I left it up to the Deaf actors, if their character was Deaf and you are Deaf, then they can come up with a character name sign on their own so we came up with The Maiden name sign (open 5 hand with thumb touching chest like “fine” hand closes up and twist into “expression”) and Miller name sign (bent L hand with point finger touching forehead becomes similar to “arrogant”). Personally I love creating name signs. I always come up with good, unique name signs, and I always like to avoid doing the same thing and go for variety. I like relating it to the story, and it has to be bigger . Maiden [name sign] was created by Anjel and I -- we spent 2 weeks collaborating and finally picked [name sign]. We decided on this: [open palm down thumb in chest] she had hands, [closed fist in chest] she did not have hands anymore, which forced her to close up and be silent...actually let me back up a little bit…

One of the big things in “The Handless Maiden (Here All Dwell Free)” is how the main character parallels a bit with the Deaf community, and this feeling of not being able to have their own voice, not being able to be independent...people will look [at us] and think we’re helpless, but truly we are very independent, very strong, very resilient. So the “handlessness” represents ASL history of trying to abolish sign, even eliminate it, and all that. It’s a whole thing with AG Bell and all that. There’s a lot of parallelism between the oppression of sign and the handless Maiden. When we first started the process, we wanted to decide how to show the Maiden’s “handlessness” and how to have a Deaf actor perform with “no hands,” how they communicate using facial expressions. We decided to wait until we started the audition process. To see who we have to choose from to be our potential Maiden. We connect the two, Anjel and Lara, who are both amazing. Both had great effort, very involved and engaged. Amy and I were going back and forth about who to choose and what that would look like. The idea of twins was brought up, having both of them together, one twin hearing, one twin Deaf. We discussed the idea of a psyche of the mind. We discussed a lot, and then decided to give the Maiden an inner voice, like a “voice inside her head…” her inner consciousness. She would interact with the psyches. The idea went off well. Anjel and Lara were a good match, a good combination. Anyways, I’m going off the point.

Back to name signs. My big struggle was with “Miller’s” name sign. We originally had someone else as the Miller [originally JW]. His name was “Miller” (name sign big beard drop). We had to reassign, and JW became the King. We debated if we should keep him as Miller too. Then we decided no. So when we got the new actor [Mark], he was clean shaven. I asked him, “Can you grow a beard?” He said “No,” so we had to say no to the original name sign. We were scrambling, “Can we find a fake beard?” Then I asked Mark, “What’s your framing and perspective on the Miller?” I did some explaining, he sat on it...Mark told me, “The Miller thinks he’s doing the right thing, but he’s not. He’s arrogant, kind of egotistical, thinking of himself and thinks of others later, not first (or second). Just focus on himself and go with things. He’s innocent but really should know better.” So we played with the idea of “Devil’s sign name,” arrogant, egotistical, big-headed…” Miller (sign name)... it just came to me, one time I was thinking and playing around... and then *gasp* YES! It fits. That was a really tough name sign process, with all that thinking. I was racking my brain over ALL these name signs, like “You need one? Ok. You still need one? Ok. Omg everyone needs a name sign AHH!!” I sent them out I think 1-2 weeks later, you were all waiting for me, “please please wait I’m thinking!!” I had to have a discussion with Amy...and then the Miller name sign was all set. It was a good choice. I’m really proud of Miller and Maiden.”

A black screen with white text reads “THANK YOU NORAH!” New white text appears on the black screen, green text highlighting the show, as it reads “Here, All Dwell Free is open for on-demand streaming from June 3-7. Register for your FREE ticket and stream NOW!”

End of video.)