THIRD PERSON

The Ebisu Sign Language Theatre Lab & Na Laga’at Theatre present Third Person: a performance about deaf individuals, hearing individuals, and those in between.
The show was developed through research and improvisation on the theme of translation into and from sign language. It is based on the personal stories of the actors, as well as interviews with interpreters and deaf individuals who rely on translation.

From Ebisu Sign Language Theatre Laboratory’s playbill:

First person – me, deaf
Second person — you, hearing
Third person — interpreter
I rely on her. You rely on her. She relies on both of us. One moment she is you. The next moment she is me. Who is she?
Is she being accurate? Do the movements of her hands convey the nuances of your language, your tone of voice, the pauses between the words? Does she manage to transform the rich expressiveness of sign language into speech?
She is my ear, my voice. If only I could do without her.
She calls and speaks for me with a government office. They tell her “No need to shout, miss!” She raised her voice because I was upset, she must convey my anger accurately through her voice. She is not supposed to refine my emotions.
Is any of the content of the lecture she interprets at the university saved in her memory? Or do things simply go through her, do they get deleted, in order to continue to interpret?
She interprets for me the instructions and words of encouragement from the midwife during childbirth. She interprets for me the Kaddish prayer my brother is saying for our father.
The psychologist’s questions, she signs to me. Is this therapy session a dyad or a triad? The psychologist speaks to her, explaining “what HE needs to be doing”. “HE” is me. Now, the third person is me.