'Frankenstein' staged with sign language interpreters

Going to the theater has been a luxurious experience for Zheng Xiaosan, who was born with a congenital hearing loss.

Despite his love for the theater, it was naturally difficult for him to follow the performances on stage.

Last Saturday, Zheng and his deaf friends watched the Chinese adaptation of "Frankenstein" with the help of sign language interpretation at the Shanghai Grand Theater.

About 30 people, all hard of hearing, took part in the event. They were put up in the front rows with the sign language interpreter in one corner of the stage.

Hu Xiaoshu was the deaf interpreter in the first half of the performance. Her colleague, Tang Wenyan, took over in the second half. So, the team used mirror image interpretation in the first half.

Credit: Ti Gong

Two of Hu's workmates sat in the first row and interpreted the performers' dialogues and stage information, including sound and atmosphere, into sign language. Hu copied the information and added her facial expression and emotions when interpreting for the audience.

The special performance was held a day before the World Day of the Deaf, which is marked on the last Sunday of September. It was initiated by the World Federation of the Deaf in 1958 to recognize the rights of deaf people around the world.

Shanghai native Hu was once a student of Shanghai Technical School for Deaf and Mute. She went to Austria to study art and received a master's degree from Vienna University of the Fine Arts.

She has worked as a coordinator and counselor in Austria's myAbility social management consultancy. Hu returned to Shanghai two years ago and has been teaching sign language and helping deaf people get interacted with society.

Credit: Zhou Shengjie / SHINE

"It's the biggest barrier-free stage performance I have done," Hu told Shanghai Daily with the help of an interpreter. "This was a task taken on short notice. I watched the performance twice, and we had two rehearsals.

"Preparation for such a work usually takes several months as we need to study the script and find the best way to present the contents with sign language," she added.

Sign language interpretation involves a lot of facial expressions to showcase a character's emotions. Dance and music play an important role in "Frankenstein." Hu used sign language to inform her audience about the atmosphere on stage and sound effects like the sound of rain and fire burning.

"I hope there can be more barrier-free performances on the domestic stage so that the hard-of-hearing in the audience can enjoy theater along with the normal public," she said.

In the audience, Zheng Xiaosan could hardly hold back his excitement after the performance.

"I'm so excited. I have waited for four years for a performance with sign language interpretation," Zheng told Shanghai Daily with the help of an interpreter. The last barrier-free show Zheng attended was the musical "Kinky Boots," which was staged at Shanghai Culture Square in 2018.

"A lot of deaf people, including me, have been expecting more barrier-free performances," said Zheng, who teaches at a special education institute in Xuhui District. "Art and cultural activities can expand our vision. Otherwise, we have to stay at home. "

Credit: Zhou Shengjie / SHINE

Theater-loving Zheng has watched performances and movies with subtitles.

"Subtitles are sometimes too quick to follow. But with the help of an interpreter's facial expression and the changing pace of his or her body language, it can be a more informative and comprehensive experience for us."

"The story of 'Frankenstein' is about love. Deaf people are a special group that needs love instead of sympathy. Sometimes, we encounter prejudice in daily life, just like the man-made creature in 'Frankenstein.' I can even see my childhood in his story. I hope deaf and normal people are treated equally."

For deaf student Tang Zhenyu, this was his first barrier-free theater experience.

"I have watched stage performances before, but it was like watching a boring, dumb show," Tang said. "I could understand about 80 percent of the story because sometimes I had to shift my focus quickly between the interpreter and the performers. But it's informative and fun!"

Statistics show that about 27 million Chinese people are troubled by hearing disabilities, accounting for 1.67 percent of the country's total population.