The BASL Project
We Are the Same, but Different
Dinner Note
![[ID: graphic for Sound Theatre's Making Waves program 2024 project, the BASL Project. On a deep blue background, below text that reads 'Making Waves 2024,' is a simplified illustration if a wave rendered in blue-greens and white. Towards the bottom of the wave, the shape morphs into that of a hand. End ID.]](https://soundtheatrecompany.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1.png "1")
[ID for above image: on a split red and white background is a black and white image of Heather Clark, Ph.D.; a Black woman smiling brightly up right, off camera, with her hair pulled back and wearing a dark-colored collared shirt and a leather-strapped watch. The text on the image reads “Sound Theatre Company presents a special event as part of the Making Waves, New Works BASL Project: We Are the Same, but Different: Navigating African American & Deaf Cultural Identities. 2pm PST, Sun June 2, Black Box Studio, Seattle Center Armory. Below this are the logos for Making Waves and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. At the very bottom is a black footer with white text that reads: “Presentation, Q&A, ASL-Interpreted, CART-captioned.” End ID.]
We Are the Same but Different:
Navigating African American & Deaf Cultural Identities
Presentation by Heather D. Clark, Ph.D.
June 2nd @ 2pm
Black Box Studio, Seattle Center Armory
Join scholar Heather Clark for a rare, deeply intersectional look at how Pacific Northwest individuals identifying as both African American and Deaf navigate dual cultural identities through language.
Sound Theatre is proud to present this special event through the Making Waves, New Works BASL PROJECT—which celebrates Black American Sign Language (BASL) and Black Deaf Culture.
Clark, a University of Washington lecturer, will give a talk on the following:
- Both mainstream Deaf and hearing African American communities use language to transmit cultural identity. How does someone in both negotiate their identity?
- How have they been influenced by mainstream Deaf communities’ use of standard American Sign Language?
- How have they been able to incorporate hearing African American vernacular (AAVE) into their unique style of signing?
This presentation offers an educational introduction to the linguistic and historical background of our second BASL PROJECT programming: a June 26 staged reading of Rhonda Cochran’s DINNER NOTE.
Dinner Note: A Black-Deaf Led Staged Reading
Written by Rhonda Cochran With Poetry by Irvine Stewart
Directed by Michelle Banks
June 26th @ 7:30pm
The Center Theatre, Seattle Center Armory
Dinner Note chronicles a modern Black family in Seattle rallying behind their Deaf son as he searches for belonging and educational equity in his Deaf school.
High school freshmen, Jr., comes from a strong and close Black Deaf family who currently reside in Seattle, WA in 2024.
At school, his History teacher has assigned the class each to do a 5-min presentation on Deaf history and ASL in the US.
Jr is handed a note to bring home to his parents after an issue with his presentation and meeting with his teacher.
What was the issue in Jr’s 5-min presentation?
What took place between the teacher and Jr during their meeting?
After the warm fellowship of family Sunday dinner, Jr makes a decision that’ll impact him and the community around him.
ABOUT HEATHER CLARK
Born and raised in Seattle, Clark earned an Interpreting Training Certificate from American Sign Language and Interpreting School (ASLIS) of Seattle in 2003. She earned a Masters and Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Washington in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
The BASL PROJECT is funded through the City of Seattle HopeCorps grant, which expands work opportunities and pipelines for underrepresented workers.
Venue & Accessibility
Clark’s presentation will be held at the Seattle Center Armory Black Box Studio, which seats 99 and includes wheelchair-accessible spaces. ASL interpreters and CART captioning will be announced when confirmed.
For Deaf Blind access requests, please email access@soundtheatrecompany.org by May 15, 2024.
The BASL Project will be performed at the Center Theatre, located in the Seattle center Armory.
Address for the Seattle Center Armory is 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109.
COVID Protocols
For the safety of our artists and audience members, we are enforcing masks for all audiences and artists. Masks may be removed briefly when eating or drinking. Actors will be unmasked when on stage.
Drew Hobson – EDDIE
Drew is incredibly excited and grateful to be part of such an amazing show, to work with such an outstanding cast and is very thankful to Teresa and the incredible Sound Theatre Company Production Team. Drew is a local Actor born in raised in Seattle and he received his BA in Theatre Arts from Western Washington University. Drew is also a Voice Over Artist, DJ, Teacher, Play & Screen Writer, Motivational Speaker and Karaoke Host. Some of his stage work includes In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (Lenny) at Theatre Schmeater, 16 Wounded (Ashraf) at Open Circle Theatre, Zooman and The Sign (Reuben Tate) with Brown Box Theatre, Tall Tales of the Unnatural West (Multiple Characters) at The Annex, 5 summer seasons with Greenstage Shakespeare in the Park (Caliban, Antonio, Hubert, Talbot, Cominius) and multiple characters in Children’s plays from 18 years with Last Leaf Touring Childrens Theatre. He was also most recently seen in Kathya Alexander’s ‘Negro Passion Play’ in the role of Immanuel the Mesiah. On TV Drew can be seen guest starring on the shows GRIMM, The Librarians & Z Nation. In Voice Over Drew can be heard in many radio & Internet commercials as well as multiple video games including State of Decay 1 & 2, BattleTech, Fire Emblem Heroes, Golem (PSVR) and more. And he was also recently cast in the new MARVEL MOVE exercise app where he will be voicing a yet to be disclosed X-Men Team Member, which is an absolute dream come true for him. Drew is currently teaching his online ‘Beginning Voice Over Workshop’ and will soon be releasing his upcoming Workshop, ‘Embrace the Stage – Confidence Building for Aspiring Actors’. More info at drewhobson.com or contact at embracethestage@hotmail.com. Drew would like thank his family, friends and Wife Kendra and would like to dedicate his performance to his daughters Brooke & Reagan, we love you so much my Babygirls, time is the only thing that can keep us apart. And to his foster son Wynter, everyday with you is a gift, I love you baby boy.
Teal Sherer – ANI
Teal Sherer is excited to make her Sound Theater Company debut. She is an advocate for the inclusion of disabled performers in the entertainment industry and is best known for creating and starring in the award-winning online comedy series My Gimpy Life. Teal has acted in national commercials, TV shows, and films and was last seen onstage in the Canadian premiere of Cost of Living. Teal is on the Board of Directors of Seattle Public Theater and is the media columnist for New Mobility, a lifestyle magazine for wheelchair users. She is so thankful to her husband, Ali, and her son, River, for their love and support.
Viviana Garza – JESS
Viviana is a queer brown Xicana performing artist and ardent activist for racial and social equity. She is passionate about telling stories from the queer, BIPOC and other marginalized communities. Originally from Los Angeles, she now sings, dances, and acts her way around Seattle where she lives with her spouse and two cats. Viviana is excited to make her debut with Sound Theatre Company and to be telling this poignant story of disability, grief, connection, and life in America.
Gerald Waters – JOHN
Gerald Isaac Waters is an actor who has appeared in several film, television, and theatre productions. He’s best known for his role on Netflix’s ALL TOGETHER NOW and TBS’s ANGIE TRIBECA. He has participated in Target’s summer campaign, modeled for brands such as Zappos Adaptive and rolled the runway during New York Fashion Week. Gerald was also a part of Los Angeles Community College’s Acting Conservatory. He is thrilled to take the stage in this theatrical production of THE COST OF LIVING in Seattle. The Tennessee native currently resides in Los Angeles, where he enjoys scoping out new restaurants with his friends.
Radical Hospitality Ticketing
At Sound Theatre Company, we believe that theatre should be accessible for all. As such, we have tickets available at a sliding scale rate.
$5 – Inclusion Rate
$25 – General Admission Rate
$50 – Patron Rate
$75 – Benefactor Rate
You are welcome to purchase tickets at any price you choose. There is no difference in service or seating among the price levels; the higher rates reflect the true cost of producing our high-quality, award-winning work. Sound Theatre appreciates your commitment to supporting art and artists in your local community.
Season Sponsors
Jéhan Òsanyìn – Director
Jéhan Òsanyìn is a trilingual playwright, director, actor, and visual artist. Recently they directed The 5th Avenue Theatre’s radio play Wonder Boy. They were the associate director for the world premiere of the new musical Afterwords, also at The 5th Avenue Theatre. They also directed The Book Club Play at Village Theatre where they previously played Siobhan in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Jéhan founded Earthseed which uses theatre in wild spaces to decolonize those spaces and the bodies that pass through them. Upcoming projects include: directing and devising Here There Be Dragons at ArtsWest, directing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz at Seattle Children’s Theatre and adapting The Lower Depths with the Seagull Project. Finally and perhaps most proudly, they are the Artist-in-Residence for Moving in Solidarity: a youth response to anti-Asian violence & the murder of George Floyd. They are also staffed in a writers’ room for an episodic tv series. www.jehanosanyin.com