June 4, 2018 Seattle, WA
Sound Theatre Company announces the 6 Plays that will be part of the ILLUMINATE SERIES of STC’s Making Waves Program. C
THE PLAYS
ILLUMINATE: Six Plays by Deaf and Disabled Playwrights
Curated by Andrea Kovich
July 12 – 22, Center Theatre Black Box Studio at the Seattle Center Armory
**All plays contain mature content and are intended for mature audiences. See website for more information.
Sound Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, Teresa Thuman, acknowledges that this is new for some Seattle audiences. “For years the Seattle theatre community has been engaged in a meaningful discussion about diversity on our stages. This is an ongoing and ever-expanding process and we at Sound Theatre are thrilled to usher in a new experience of inclusion by centering members of the Deaf and disability communities.”
This summer Sound Theatre forges a new path for audience, artists and members of the Deaf and disabled communities to join together to celebrate the authentic voices and stories that emerge from lived experience. The reading series will culminate in a full production of Seattle premiere production of the late John Belluso’s play The Rules of Charity.
A Nervous Smile
By John Belluso
Directed by Teresa Thuman
Another play from the playwright of The Rules of Charity, a wealthy New York couple, strained to the breaking point by caring for their severely disabled daughter, Emily, weigh their own happiness against that of their child—with shocking consequences.
Ultrasound
By Adam Pottle
Directed by Maggie Rogers and Kellie Martin
Ultrasoundtells the story of a couple, Miranda and Alphonse, and what they go through when they attempt to conceive a child. The play explores the consequences of eugenics through the Deaf experience, and asks the question, “In what circumstances would someone not want a child that’s different than them?”
The Things We Carry
By Oya Mae Duchess-Davis
Directed by Shermona Mitchell
The magic realism ofThe Things We Carry takes place in Brooklyn, New York in 1990. The roots of the past run deep for the grieving Lyon family. Haunted by a horrible loss, the family struggles to face their fears and find a way to move on with their lives.
Schism
By Athena Stevens
Director Amanda Friou
Failed architect Harrison has plans to make tonight the last night of his life, when Katherine, a young student, breaks into his house in her wheelchair and begs for his help. As their chaotic first encounter turns into the beginning of a twenty year relationship, the unlikely couple grow to realize that they are capable of either building something great together – or absolutely destroying each other.
Peeling
By Kaite O’Reilly
Directed by Maggie Rogers
An epic, post-modern production of The Trojan Women: Then and Nowis in progress. Stuck at the back–unlit, but onstage–are the Chorus: Beaty, Coral and Alfa, three performers rendered almost immobile in their multi-layered, preposterous frocks. They spend most of the production waiting to say a few lines so that the management feel they have done their bit for “social inclusion”. While they wait, they gossip and bitch, lie and heckle.
Holy Water (formerly Preying Hands)
By Howie Seago
A new workshop version of a play by Howie Seago, Preying Handsis a drama inspired by actual events. A group of Deaf students in 1960s Milwaukee, grow up to seek justice from the Catholic priest who abused them and the church that ignored their plight.