Deaf Actors Perform for the Signstage Theater in Cleveland, Ohio

This group of actors is like many others in many ways. They perform in well known plays, such as Beauty and the Beast, The Miracle Worker, Snow White, and Children of a Lesser God. This group has performed across the country, won many awards, and participated in festivals around the world. There is one difference in this group and other theatrical groups across the country, however. The Cleveland, Ohio, Signstage Theater consists of both hearing and deaf actors, and the performers both speak and sign their dialogue at the same time. Some of the characters in the plays have been adapted for the group, as Snow White has both a deaf prince and a deaf Snow White.

The Cleveland, Ohio, Signstage Theater was founded in 1975 by deaf actor Brian Kilpatrick and hearing actor Charles St. Clair. The goal was to present plays that both the hearing and deaf public would enjoy. Another goal was to provide cultural integration.

The approach was to have actors speak their lines and at the same time sign them, using the American Sign Language. This would avoid the confusion of every line having to be translated by an off stage interpreter or having a hearing actor onstage interpret the dialogue.

The Cleveland, Ohio, Signstage Theater has performed 93 plays using deaf performers during its history-plays that many have considered to be highly professional. The group has won the Ohio Governor's Award for Educational Outreach and four local Emmy's for appearances on PBS and has often been praised in a variety of newspapers. It has participated in international arts festivals in Russia, the Czech Republic, Jordan and at Gallaudet University in Washington DC.

Currently the Cleveland, Ohio, Signstage Theater is performing Beauty and the Beast throughout the United States using deaf performers. In late February the play was performed before sold out crowds at the Solon Center for the Arts.

In addition, since 1993, the Cleveland, Ohio, Signstage Theater has performed children's shows across the country. More than 75,000 students in 50 cities have seen the performances.