Honolulu Theatre for Youth is taking people into the fascinating and vibrant world of deaf culture with its latest production, “Can You Hear My Hands?” Ed Chevy, renowned deaf entertainer, created the show to help kids — and parents — in the hearing community understand deaf culture.
He hopes to foster a sense of pride and possibility in the deaf community through dynamic gestures, expressions, humor and language. He is joined on stage by sign-language interpreter Michele Morris and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth company.
The hourlong journey into deaf culture includes sign-language lessons, stories about the experience of being deaf, jokes and singing along with the performers.
>> Name: “Can You Hear My Hands?”
>> Dates: 7 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Saturdays through Nov. 5
>> Where: Tenney Theatre, St. Andrew’s Cathedral
>> Admission: $20 (adults), $15 seniors (over 60), $10 (18 and under)
>> Length of play: 1 hour
>> Intermission: No
>> Age recommendation: 8 and older
>> What it’s about: The everyday experiences of a deaf person who happens to be a talented and expressive entertainer. Includes some “deaf jokes” — jokes told in sign language.
>> Morals and messages: Deaf culture has its own language, its own poetry, jokes and performing traditions just like all other cultures in Hawaii.
There is no need to feel pity for deaf people or to be afraid to engage with them — they are a dynamic and capable part of our community.
>> Parental advisory: Chevy tells an Edgar Allen Poe story that may be a little spooky for some children under 8. Also expect some toilet humor expressed through signing.
>> HTY says: “The show is filled with music, fun stories, wonderful acting, a bit of sign language and extremely visual theater,” HTY artistic director Eric Johnson says. “Ed is a world-class performer, and one of the most vibrant examples of a capable, articulate performer living and working in Hawaii today. Visual communication, facial expressions and gesture are all vocabulary that we use every day, but deaf artists like Ed take those forms of expression and make them art. The chance to see him perform and learn a bit about his life and culture is a rare and wonderful opportunity.”
>> For more info: 839-9885 or htyweb.org
