Theatre for the deaf

Deaf people should enjoy a play as much as the hearing audience. This is the thinking behind the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that theatres become accessible to deaf people. Theatre producers, on the other hand, are beginning to realize that such a feature makes their product attractive to a wider audience – with considerable financial rewards.

Interpreted theatre usually takes place at two or three performances in a theatre season. Preference for tickets is given to the deaf and their guests, but tickets are also sold to hearing people who are interested in seeing theatre interpreters at work.

It is a colossal project for the interpreters. Ian Cox works for See Theatre, a Chicago-based association of interpreters. He says, “for about a month we work with the support of a Sign Language consultant to translate and rehearse an entire play. The workload is immense. Consider that each actor in the play has about four weeks to rehearse his or her lines; we have to learn the whole play in as much time. And, when interpreting musicals, where timing, rhythm and harmonies must be practiced, the workload doubles”.

The most important technical aspect of theatre interpretation for the deaf is the location of the interpreter. Placement strategies can be categorized into three styles: ‘placed’, where interpreters are located outside the acting space and do not move; ‘zoned’, where interpreters are within the acting space, but usually move only during a change of scene or act; and, finally, ‘shadowed’, where interpreters move freely within the acting space, shadowing the movement of the actors for whom they are interpreting.

The ‘placed’ style of interpreting in the theatre is by far the most common. The interpreters are side-by-side and face the audience (although some interpreters interact with each other as appropriate). The location of the interpreter is generally in one of three places: stage right or stage left, or on the floor of the house.

The ‘zoned’ style of interpreting is a happy medium between the ‘placed’ and ‘shadowed’ styles. Here, interpreters are placed side-by-side within the acting space. Usually, they change position on stage from scene to scene – or from act to act – in order to be within the same ‘zone’ as the majority of the action. Zone placement makes it easier for the deaf patron to see the interpreters and actors at the same time.

The ‘shadowed’ style of interpreting is the most inclusive style of interpreting for the theatre. It involves placing the interpreters directly within the action – nearly making them ‘sign language actors’. The interpreters are ‘blocked’ into each scene, and literally shadow the actors. The advantage of this is clear: the interpreter is in such close proximity to the actor that the deaf patron need not make a decision about whom to watch – he or she can watch both at the same tome. In the best of cases, the deaf patron mentally blends the interpreter with the actor, and forgets that the actor does not sign.

Theatre interpreters for the deaf are dedicated professionals who take great pride in their work. “Theatre,” says Ian, “is the art of communicating beautiful ideas in interesting ways. Interpreted theatre, therefore, is an art in itself. Thankfully, instead of seeing us as ‘additions’, producers nowadays think of interpreters for the deaf as a new avenue to creativity”.

1. Theatre interpreters have become commonplace because

A. deaf people were avoiding the theatre

B. theatres wanted to become more accessible

C. a new law made their presence compulsory

D. producers wanted a way to attract audiences

2. Why do hearing people go to see interpreted performances?

A. They are the most popular performances of the season

B. They are even better than standard performances

C. They give a better understanding of the play

D. They offer a chance to admire the work of interpreters

3. The workload of theatre interpreters is so great because they have to

A. learn the lines of all the actors

B. interpret in front of a consultant

C. go to many of the rehearsals

D. work in all parts of the production

4. In which style (s) of the interpreting do the interpreters change their position?

A. the ‘zoned’ style

B. the ‘zoned’ and the ‘shadowed’ styles

C. the ‘placed’ and the ‘shadowed’ styles

D. the ‘shadowed’ style

5. Why does the writer refer to the ‘zoned’ style as ‘a happy medium’?

A. It combines elements from the two other styles

B. It is mostly used in light-hearted plays

C. It allows the interpreters to mix with the actors

D. It makes the interpreter’s job easier

6. What does the word ‘this’ in the line 74 refer to?

A. the advantages of the ‘shadowed’ style

B. the position of the interpreters

C. the action in a performance

D. the placement of the actors

7. What does Ian say about theatre producers in the last paragraph?

A. They appreciate the work of interpreters

B. They think interpreters are expensive

C. They see interpreters as a necessary evil

D. They don’t respect interpreters

8. What is the writer’s purpose in the text?

A. To inspire interest in the topic

B. To advertise interpreted theatre

C. To show the variety in modern theatre

D. To criticize the altitude of theatre directors

Дополнительное задание:

Text 1. Read the text and find all the gerunds and infinitives there.

How to improve your memory.

The brain can record more than 86 billion bits of information every day and our memories can probably hold 100 trillion bits in a lifetime. Nevertheless only about 20 percent of our daily experience is registered, and of that only a tiny proportion is loaded into long term memory. Most of the images and ideas that pass through our minds during a day are held for only 25 to 30 second. This is just long enough for us to be able to keep the words of a sentence in our head as we read it so we understand its meaning. Yet research shows that we are capable of training and improving our memories.

Developing techniques for improving memory is now the fastest growing area of psychological research in Europe and America. Most techniques work by providing some kind of association between the thing you want to remember and a visual picture that is easy to recall.

People in many occupations require particular memory skills where theses techniques can be useful. Teachers, salespeople and diplomats need a good memory for names, poker players for cards, and supermarket managers for lists of prices.

The difference between someone who has a good memory and someone who hasn’t is not one of capacity, but of order. Most people use their memories like a cardboard box: they just throw information in and hope that they can find it later. The secret of good memory is mental filing. That takes effort. Remembering is a learned skill that involves hard work.

For public speakers, a good memory is often critical. The American author, Mark Twain, devised a system for remembering his speeches. A haystack with a wiggly line under it to represent a rattlesnake would remind him to begin talking about ranch life in the West. He would draw pictures for all the sections of his speech, all strung out in a row. Then he would look at them and destroy them. When he spoke, the row of images was sharp in his mind. He never needed to consult notes. His system was so good that he could recall speeches given twenty-five years earlier.

Twain was employing a feature of memory that has since been confirmed by research – that images are more memorable than words. The capacity of memory for pictures may be almost unlimited. In experiments, people shown up to 10,000 pictures could later select those they had seen from among unfamiliar ones with remarkable accuracy.

Exercise. Open the brackets and complete these sentences with either an infinitive or a gerund

Add prepositions where necessary.

1. You need a strategy for improving your memory. (improve)

2. Are you able ………. lists of numbers? (memorize)

3. I am better ………. names than numbers. (remember)

4. The article suggests ………. images rather than words. (memorize)

5. Memory techniques work ……….a context for the material. (provide)

6. I’m not capable ……….words ……….them. (repeat, change)

7. Mark Twain was one of the first people.….a system ……his speeches. (devise, remember)

8. The article recommends ………. a visual image of words. (create)

9. Actors say there is no quick way …………their lines. (learn)

10. It is quite possible ……….. a useful image and ……….. a conversation at the same time. (create, have)

Text 2. Read the text and then try to answer the questions given below.

Some Aspects of the Reading Process.

The average college student reads everything at more or less the same speed of 200 or 300 words a minute. However, recent experiments have shown that a person can read 800-1,000 words and some researchers have noted even higher speeds (up to 1,200 words). To make this possible several techniques exist. These include: skimming (to understand the main points), scanning (to pick out specific details), and intensive reading (to study and retain the maximum).

The good reader adapts the speed of reading to his purpose. He will judge what particular information is wanted, and how long the information will have to be retained. Unfortunately immediate human memory has the drawback that it retains only six to eight disconnected items.

This means that information must be processed and organized at the same speed that it is received. The reader devises a mental scheme for rearranging items of information. At this moment he is thinking for himself of those parts of the sentence he has missed. Reading then becomes externally guided thinking.

Slow word-for-word reading, on the other hand, presents several problems, especially for the language learner. Owing to attention being paid to details the overall picture is lost and a lot of time is spent in looking up the unknown words in the dictionary. Quite contrary to expectation, experiments have shown that fast reading has several advantages: comprehension is higher, the main ideas can be isolates and the student is not held up by unknown vocabulary and can be trained to read unsimplified texts from the start.

1. How many reading techniques are mentioned in the text? What are they? 2. What are the qualities of a good reader? 3. What drawback does the immediate human memory have? 4. How can fast reading be improved? 5. What problems are connected with slow word-for-word reading? 6. Is the author against slow reading? 7, Do you agree with the authors view? 8. Can you give some facts to support your argument? 9. How fast can you read in English (Russian)? 10.What reading techniques do you find most suitable?