Wizard of Oz by Eyes Alive! Florida School for Deaf and Blind

37 minute play by children in sign.



Honestly, I do not know what is going on here. Some of the children, a few of them sign as if they do not understand what they are saying.  I suspect not all of them are deaf. I could be wrong about that but some children sign as deaf and others do not.A few words stick out specifically, for example:

One boy says the word "help" as if he does not know how or why the sign means help because nothing is being helped, the movement is present but backwards where the helping hand is pounded instead of helping lift the opposing fist-hand. Whereas the other children say the same word "help" as if they do understand the how and why of it.

The trees are not so clear, nor the flying monkeys.

All the children say the word "witch" as if they do not know the hook relates to the nose. I think I saw one or two point to the nose first but not so clearly, then "hook" but the word is really a double hook; hook nose + hook = witch, most of the children are doing hook=witch. None of them were clear about an ugly witchy hooked nose. Much of their signing is not so clear and not so emphatic or dramatic.

Except for the witch. She comes across loud and clear, there is no mistaking her meaning. She is beautifully clear and cogent throughout.

Dorthy: You sign very well. How can you sign without a brain?

Scarecrow: Yeah, strange, huh.

That cracks me up. The little lion falling down at the slightest provocation, wiping his eyes with his tail as in the movie. The kids are a delight to watch.

That reminds me of being a kid and not understanding what the big deal is about adults falling down. I did that every day. A couple times a day. Adults make it sound like some kind of gigantic emergency requiring immediate medical attention and further medical tests to determine what went wrong. But the kid drops to the ground on a dime. He's hilarious he never misses his cue to drop like a brick and he cracks me up each time.

They all spell "wizard" throughout. There are signs for the English word "wizard," one refers to conical hat, others refer to "magic+personification" another, "beard+magic+personification" otherwise "expert as math-wiz" or simply "brilliant"

They compressed the story excellently. They rewrote the witch's death scene by skipping the castle and guards altogether, it is the monkeys that rejoice.