"A True Apology" Rehearsals

I have written a play about a family that has two disabilities and a big challenge to communication. The story is how a Deaf man apologizes to his blind mother for running over her seeing eye dog. A third character is the sister of the man who has to act as the go-between. It's a short play that's very emotional as they all are frustrated with the lack of communication and the misunderstandings.

I don't believe this kind of play has ever been staged before, where a blind character and deaf character are left alone on stage together. In away, it was inspired by the Deaf students at CSDF. I remember asking my daughter what she thought about the blind students at the California School for the Blind that share a portion of their campus with the California School for the Deaf. I laughed heartily when she told me that they make fun of the blind students with their canes and stumblings as they walk. Leave it to kids.

Of course, this always brings to mind famous quote from Helen Keller when asked which was worse, being deaf or being blind and she said deaf because blindness cuts you off from things, while deafness cuts you off from people. With all due respect to Ms. Keller, I honestly don't think she got this one right. I'd much rather be deaf than blind when I compare the two. How about you?

Anyway, I am acting as the deaf character in my own play because the actor original cast did not know ASL and was overwhelmed with other commitments in the Pear Slices program of new works at the Pear Avenue Theatre. Check out the performance dates and times here: http://www.thepear.org/.