No Errors in Their Comedy: MSSD Students Perform Shakespeare

By Rosalinda Ricasa

American Sign Language and Shakespeare doth mix—at least for nine students from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD). The students performed on stage at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.

The students—Brent Benoit, Edward Corporal, Cierra Cotton, Xian Huang, Desmond Kerkulah, Camille Mitchell, Matthew Pollock, Hema Saylor, and Matthew Scott—performed the first scene of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.

In anticipation of their performance, the students and their teacher, Judith Giannotti, studied The Comedy of Errors for three months. “Reading the play was challenging for the students,” Giannotti observed. “At the same time, they were stimulated by the plot and its complexities.”
They mastered the vocabulary well, she noted.

After a few encounters with ‘doth,’ “thou,’ ‘dost,’ ‘thy,’ and ‘art,’ they signed the modern version of the verb or the pronoun without hesitating.

The MSSD students performed in American Sign Language to the delight of both deaf and hearing people in the audiences. One viewer noted, “I can understand [Shakespeare] without the voice interpreter!”

Scott, who played a servant, said he felt nervous at first, but he felt good when the audience laughed. Cotton, who played the wife of the main character, said she wants to become a famous actress.
“The students were inspired by the audience response,” said Giannotti. “It was an unforgettable experience for all of us.”

Other News Stories in This Issue:

Bridging the Communication Gap
Styling Her Way to Success