Vignettes of the Deaf Character and Other Plays

The water falls.

246 The water falls. Playwright’s Note. All interactions between Jed and the other characters take place in Jed’s mind. The characters move about in a collage of surrealistic actions, as do the water reflections and sounds that occur throughout the play. The audience needs to see the way thoughts course and reverberate through Jed’s mind. For the roles of Jed, Grandfather, and Father, it is important to cast actors who can sign and speak well simultaneously. This portrays Jed’s bilingual relationship with his family the way I perceived it. In cases where it is difficult to achieve this type of casting, having the actors just sign is acceptable. During performances with nonsigning audiences, additional actors would be needed to voice the lines offstage. Cast of Characters JED: Deaf, early 20s, fluent in ASL, signs and speaks GRANDPOP: Hearing, elderly, fit, signs and speaks FATHER: Hearing, 40s, signs and speaks MOTHER: Deaf, 40s, communicates by gestures, gibberish, and at times, in fluent ASL The Setting Time: The present Place: Jed’s loft [A beam of light comes up on a transparent cup somewhere on stage with an I.V. bag hanging in midair above it. The I.V. should be piggybacked (two bags together) with the Y-shaped tubing visible. Water from the I.V. drips into the cup slowly and rhythmically. This will continue throughout the play. On the cyclorama is a reflection of the ripples in the water created In memory of Charles Milton Borchers The water falls. 247 by the drops. The sound of the drips should be synthesized so that it amplifies and reverberates at certain points throughout the play. The reflection reveals a silhouetted tableau of a large cardboard box, and of JED, MOTHER, and FATHER in poses of grief. Long period of silence; the effect should be hypnotic as each ripple undulates behind the three characters. A stream of white light comes up on the box. Handwritten across the downstage side of the box in large black letters is the word GRANDPOP’S. The light should spill onto JED, who is standing behind the box.] JED: (Sign only; no voicing.) I sit and watch the waterfall While far from home miles away and wonder . . . [He cannot get through the rest of the poem. He explores the sign for “waterfall ,” incorporating the sign for “blood.” He also explores the 2 handshape representing the legs of a person falling over the ledge of a waterfall. All of this should be done somewhat ambiguously. JED toes the box around a little bit, hesitant about opening it. MOTHER and FATHER are still invisible to him. Finally, JED picks up the box to put it away. It is very heavy. After a bit of a struggle, he cannot find a place to put it away. The stage and the walls are empty and boxlike with no openings for him. The box ends up sitting where it was. JED stares at it from a distance. The ripple reflection fades out. Whenever the reflection goes down, the dripping onstage should always continue.] MOTHER: (Breaks out of her pose. Haunting and completely unintelligible . The way she does this should be vocal and gestural yet leave no clue as to what she is saying. As the play progresses, her articulation of this line gradually becomes clear, so that by the very end she says it succinctly.) Oohhaaaayyyyyyyyaahhhhhhhhuuuhhhhahhhhhiell lllehhhhhhhhhhh. . . Oohhaaaayyyyyyyyaahhhhhhhhu uuhhhhahhhhhielllllehhhhhhhhhhh! JED: (Incredulous; sign only.) What? (Looks around along the walls of the stage.) 248 The water falls. MOTHER: Oohhaaaayyyyyyyyaahhhhhhhhuuuhhhhahhhhhiielll llehhhhhhhhhhh! JED: (Unable to find her; sign only.) What? Say that again. [MOTHER goes to the box and opens it. JED sees her now. In a trance, she gingerly takes out a pocket watch.] FATHER: (Breaks out of his pose.) Jed? Jed! Come here for a minute. Help me take down the Christmas tree lights. JED: (Sign and voice.) Shh! Look at Mom. [MOTHER stares ahead. Long pause. She clenches then unclenches her eyes. She puts the watch down. She takes a photograph out of the box, looks at it, and then stares ahead. Long pause. Eyes clench and unclench.] FATHER: Every night. JED: Every night? Since . . . FATHER: Mmhmm. Like she’s watching a slide show of her past. [MOTHER puts down the photograph and brings out an eyeglass case. She takes the pair of glasses—obviously an elderly man’s style—and puts them on. Eyes clench and...