Talking Hands--The Story of the Theater for the Deaf in Taiwan

The Taipei Theater for the Deaf, the first of its kind to be established in Taiwan, won enthusiastic applause during its debut and the four performances which followed at the Yueh Han Hall in Taipei. The theater is composed of 30 deaf college students under the direction of Miss Wang Chi-mei, a Master of Arts in the Theater at the University of Oregon. The theater's goals are to share the lives and opinions of the deaf with hearing people through the medium of drama. Miss Wang was inspired to set up her Taiwan project on seeing the Theater for the Deaf in Seattle put on a performance which touched her deeply five years ago. Since then, she has devoted most of her time to helping the deaf. She returned to Taiwan to learn sign language and set up the local theater after finishing her degree course in the U.S. The expressiveness of sign language often comes as a surprise to a hearing audience. Students majoring in music assist deaf actors to learn the rhythm of each song in their basic training, enabling the actors later to translate many popular songs into sign language. During the performance, the songs were sung by the hearing actors, while the deaf ones accompanied in sign language. Thus the audience was able to understand the meaning and enjoy the songs visually as well. One of the most popular numbers was entitled "Human cinematography," a kind of "sign-mime" introduced by Bernard Bragg, one of the founders of the National Theater for the Deaf, when he visited the Deaf society in Taiwan in January. In this piece, the actors describe an event or story through body movements using cinema techniques. Wayne Smith, an American language teacher, who has a mater's degree in deaf education, has been to Taiwan four times since 1971 and has a deep understanding of progress in the field. "What the deaf need most of all is the understanding and respect of hearing society rather than sympathy," he said. After the performance, not only was public appreciation of the talents of deaf people enhanced, but also demand for sign language lessons increased. "We cannot promise a brilliant artistic work, but at least we can offer our efforts to the public," Miss Wang said. To pursue this aim further, members of the deaf theater have opened five elementary sign-language classes for nearly 300 people, including relatives of the deaf, people employed in medical service, policemen and so on. They have also established a sign language club which provides deaf and hearing members with the chance to exchange ideas and expand social services for the deaf. The second production of the deaf theater is scheduled for next March.