The Appearance of Authenticity:
Adapted and Artificial Language(s) in Deaf Theatre

abstract

The term "Deaf theatre" refers not only to performances put on by Deaf companies, but also to a cultural site where both Deaf and non-Deaf audiences engage with Deafness. For some non-Deaf audiences, attending Deaf theatre can become an "event," an interruption of their typical assumptions about what experiences are "normal" and an introduction to a new way of imagining interpersonal communication. Part of the power Deaf Theatre has to effect this interruption depends on the perception that the Deafness encountered there is "authentic." Inherent in performance, though, is the idea that the representations the audience encounters are not, in fact, genuine, although they may have the appearance of authenticity. In fact, contemporary Deaf theatres have developed linguistic techniques that are not necessarily part of "authentic" everyday life for Deaf people– including Signed English, Sign-Supported Speech, "theatrical sign," or double-voicing of dialogue in speech and sign by two different actors.

In this paper, I will examine the use of adapted or artificially-constructed language(s) in Deaf theatre to explore how the slippery concept of authenticity is implicated in Deaf theatre as both performance and "event." Rather than lament the seeming artificiality that results from adapting ASL or combining it with English for non-Deaf audiences, I will suggest that these "inauthentic" languages are necessary to create an appearance of authenticity that allows the performance to become an event, thereby opening a door for genuine interaction and engagement outside the necessary artificiality of theatre.

D. Ohlandt, Lake Forest College