SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – “Charlotte’s Web” is a classic to read growing up in school. It tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. In an effort to save Wilbur’s life, Charlotte writes messages in her web, praising the pig and persuading the farmer to keep him.
Lake Howell High School students will be putting on a performance of the book by E.B. White, and it will be a show all can enjoy, including those who are hard-of-hearing or deaf.
American Sign Language students will be joining the actors on stage for shadow interpreting.
It’s an idea that Rebecca Haley Kunos from the world language department and Tiffany Ortiz from the theater department worked together on.
“Once we agreed to collaboration, I was excited to just have the interpreters off to the side of the stage, but Mrs. Rebecca brought this idea of having the interpreters on the stage with actors,” Ortiz said.
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“I was very excited for this opportunity, but also very nervous as I myself have never interpreted a full-length play before. I requested we start small and do the children’s play as it is not as long,” Kunos explained.
She said their first show was “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
“We received wonderful feedback from the children, elementary schools, parents and even the Deaf community who came to support our ASL program and students,” Kunos said.
Since then, they have grown and completed six shows together.
“We are very excited to be the first school to offer student-led interpretation for the Deaf community and even more excited now as other high schools in Seminole and Orange County are starting to work with their theater departments to add this accessibility and real-life experience to their programs as well,” Kunos said.
It’s a win-win for both theater students and ASL students. Theater students will be making the show more accessible while ASL students will get the experience of the job of being an interpreter.
Sophia Iglesias is one of the interpreters. She said her father knows ASL and that he inspired her to learn it as well. She also has a love of acting and spoke about the challenges of interpreting a play.
“Not only do we have to memorize the lines in a different language, but sometimes we have to memorize multiple people’s lines and then match their acting with our signs and body language,” Iglesias said. “Being on stage is difficult because it feels like we’re in the way of the actor and they basically get right of way, so we get run over sometimes.”
Miraje Hernandez is the student director for “Charlotte’s Web.” She says although it has been different working with ASL students, it has also been rewarding.
“It has certainly been different in the blocking of the scenes as we have had more people on stage, but it has also helped me to improve my problem solving, creativity, and direction overall, which I am grateful for,” Hernandez said.
“This show is all about friendship and what friends can do and will do for each other, they can walk away with the understanding and a lesson in friendship and well-executed partnerships,” Ortiz said. “Not only is this message an example through the production itself, but by seeing the actors and interpreters on stage together and through how both Mrs. Rebecca and I were able to bring these two programs together.”
The show will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 26, and Saturday, Jan. 27, inside the Lake Howell High School Auditorium. Tickets are $8 at the door.
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