Sign language

I went to see a play called 'Tribes' with my friend Megan. The play is about the deaf son in a hearing family who meets and falls for a woman who is the hearing daughter of deaf parents. She knows sign language and but is losing her hearing. He (and his family) never learned sign language.

Megan wanted to see the play because she studied sign language back in college. We were sitting in the section for deaf patrons, with two sign language interpreters. It was really interesting to watch the audience members communicating to each other in sign. The play was really interesting and moving, and really was about all kinds of miscommunications, not just between hearing and non-hearing people. The actor who plays the son, Billy, is deaf. He speaks well enough to be understood quite easily. The play included moments of pure sign. The set was designed in such a way that super-titles could be projected onto various parts of it during the signing. Afterwards, there was a discussion period with the cast and it was interesting to hear the questions and comments from the audience. A gay man related to Billy's situation to his own coming out. A deaf young woman described how she went through similar situation as Billy in her hearing family. Watching the various signers, I could see there were differences in how each of them used their hands. Some were emotional and aggressive. Some were slower and more relaxed. The movement was like dancing with their hands.