Visible Language presented by WSC Avant Bard at Gallaudet University

Visible Language

Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue, NE Washington

Right here in Washington, DC, in the volatile 1890s, two powerful and egotistical men clashed over how the Deaf should be taught to communicate–a contest that was to impact every Deaf person thereafter. This brilliant new bilingual musical tells that momentous story through the real people who lived it, including Alexander Graham Bell, Edward Miner Gallaudet, First Lady Carrie Harrison–and a young girl named Helen Keller, just beginning to learn what it means to be a woman in an era of progress.

Presented by WSC Avant Bard

Thru - Nov 16, 2014

Price: $30-$35

Running Time: 1 hour, 50, no intermission

Buy Tickets

Visible Language Reviews

Average Rating based on 4 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended

"...Still, Mary Resing’s script and Andy Welchel’s bright, jaunty songs (with lyrics by Resing) make plain how deep and personal the issue is. A black student named Ennals, appealingly played by Aarron Loggins and based on a real student at Kendall Green (as Gallaudet was known at the time), is full of potential. Will signing — not speaking — limit the options of students like him? Helen Keller, played by the wonderfully expressive Miranda Medugno, arrives with Anne Sullivan (a nicely tart Sarah Anne Sillers), and they finger-spell and sign, with Keller even taking speech lessons from Bell."

Read Full Review

- Nelson Pressley

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"...The show is performed in English and ASL, and the 17-member cast intermingles hearing and deaf actors. Supertitles scroll across the ceiling of Ethan Sinnott’s bric a brac–crowded interior set, a necessity both for those who cannot sign and those who cannot hear. By design, it isn’t always an exact transliteration of the words and gestures being exchanged onstage—a clever device in a show about the problems of being understood. Unfortunately, it also tips off the audience when an actor skips a chunk of his scripted dialogue, which happened more than once at Friday’s shaky opening performance. A few of the hearing cast members struggled to speak and sign at the same pace while also acting, creating an arrhythmia particularly deadly to comic scenes."

Read Full Review

- Chris Klimek

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

"...Mary Resing’s world premier production of Visible Language currently performing at Gallaudet University’s Eastman Studio Theatre presents a series of historical events within a neighborhood district, now occupied by Gallaudet University. The provocative conflict and clash of values between Edward Miner Gallaudet who viewed sign language as a primary means to communicate among individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing, and Alexander Graham Bell, who actively believed in a more global approach, (incorporating sign language into orally communicated methods of speech) in communication is one that affected the lives of all individuals impacted within the American Deaf Culture. Despite several of the production’s minor technicalities, Artistic Director of Avant Bard and Director of Visible Language was wise in taking on such a bold and daring project."

Read Full Review

- Tina Ghandchilar

DCTheatreScene - Somewhat Recommended

Visible Language has a lot going for it, primarily a passionate and and talented group of artists who so clearly want this show to be an important moment. I fear they got so caught up in the hugeness of the endeavor

Read Full Review

- Ryan Taylor

Visible Language presented by WSC Avant Bard at Gallaudet University