By Romesh Jayasundara and Christine Kuramoto
To attend any event at Centennial Hall, a historic auditorium in the even more historic Milwaukee Public Library, is to be in the electric presence of stories in every form. They are in the very walls of the building, in the shelves, bins, vinyl albums, CDs, film, database systems throughout the building.ย
But, to attend a crowded Ex Fabula Deaf Story Slam is to also feel and see stories flying through the room, even before the event begins. Unlike the spoken words of the hearing world, many signed conversations in American Sign Language can take place across space in a way that would require shouting among the hearing.ย
Thanks to the UWM Interpreter Training program, I was able to chat with some audience members and organizers about why this event was important to them, and to Milwaukee.
Melani Kaplan: “Events like this are important because Deaf perspective is often overlooked. Deaf people are wonderful storytellers! But often they’re known only to each other, and not to the hearing world. There are stories–and good ones–about deaf people, like Children of a Lesser God or Coda, but Deaf people are often portrayed as “special” or “magical.” In fact, Deaf people are individuals–unique with individual characteristics and opinions!”
Ben Pipkorn: ย โIt doesnโt make any difference whether itโs a full auditorium or just a few people.ย Whatโs important is that people get to share their stories. At the same time hearing people get a chance to learn.โ
Sunny Brysch: “Itโs really important that our life experiences be sometimes told by Deaf peopleโourselves. Also, I think one of the most important things is the use and preservation of ASL”
Joshua Castille, Mayra Castrejon-Hernandez, the Master and Mistress of Ceremonies provided clever and vivid connections between storytellers. Josh and Mayra explained that the theme of the evening was: โSorry, not Sorry.โ In other words, storytellers had developed narratives about times in their lives when they might have been expected to apologize for unconventional or daring choices, but chose not to.
Alyson Urdahl told about growing up in a hearing family. As a little girl, she would use a special kind of silent treatment on her sister. She would close her eyes and cross her arms, so her sister couldnโt sign to her.ย Then her sister couldnโt communicate with her. It worked โ drove her sister crazy! Much later, she would have an experience that would help her learn the costs of the silent treatment.ย
Suzanne Roberts described a family background that included abuse, lies and running away from home as a teenager. After years of estrangement she had the courage to answer an email from her niece. This new conversation led to reconciliations, discoveries and the self-knowledge that comes from learning the truth about intergenerational trauma.
Michael Starkย told of 1970s road trips as the only deaf person in his family, one in a classic Airstream Trailer.ย After many days of travel, he had exhausted piles of comic books and resorted to silently counting telephone poles. When the trailer finally parked, he burst from the car and ran for the edge of the Grand Canyon. Deaf child! Few guardrails! Luckily, he stopped just short of going over. He was warned, and also told that, if he got too close to a bear, it would eat him so fast, only his empty clothes would be left where heโd been standing.
Brian Peters remembered attending St. Gregory Catholic Church in Milwaukee and the funeral of a 102- year-old relative and realizing one of the true mysteries of the Catholic Mass: Kneel. Stand. Sit. Kneel. Stand. Sit. Kneel. Stand. Kneel. Stand. Who has time for this? Who has the knees?
After growing up in Louisiana facing fragile and unreliable acceptance of his sexuality, Joshua Castille was the one person in his friend group who went away to college โย to Gallaudet, an internationally-known university for the Deaf in Washington, DC. His experiences there gave him the skills and confidence to perform for thousands of people. In fact, Josh will be performing with American Players Theater in Spring Green this summer as Puck in โMidsummerโs Nightโs Dream. Joshโs takeaway:ย โIf you donโt want to join in, fine. But youโre not going to stop me living my dream.โย
Melani Kaplan was in Ecuador, traveling abroad for the first time. She didnโt speak Spanish. Her hearing friendโs family didnโt sign. They were visiting a beautiful, historic church that was mostly off-limits to visitors and under repair. Her friendโs brother was having a long conversation with the staff at the site, during which they all kept looking over at her. She waved and smiled, awkwardly. Suddenly, they were allowed into the church, to places definitely off limits to tourists, and even encouraged to climb the scaffolding, where they could see beautiful detailing being restored and a magnificent view. Melani later found out that her friendโs brother had told the staff she was a visiting architecture student from a famous university.ย
To wrap up, some thoughts from audience member Carolyn Sorrem:
“The Deaf community is small, but we have a big variety of experiences. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people need to come together to tell our stories. It’s fabulous.”
You can check out photos from this evening in this Facebook photo album. There are also a few photos on Instagram. Videos will come in a few weeks – weโll add them to the YouTube Playlist.
The 2024-25 Deaf Stories Project is possible thanks to: Bader Philanthropies, Inc., Milwaukee Public Library Foundation, the Wispact Foundation, the Bert L. and Patricia S. Steigleder Charitable Trust, Maihaugen Foundation, Milton and Dorothy Sarnoff Raymond Foundation, Ex Fabula members,ย Ex Fabulaโs Deaf storytelling coaches, and all the Deaf community members who participate! Thank you everyone!
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