Students auditioned for the play "Antigone" over the weekend, which will be partially performed in American Sign Language and will be produced by several professors. Valerie French, history professor and Andrea Tschemplik, philosophy professor aided in the translation and research of the play. Russel Williams, an Academy Award-winning professor, is creating a soundtrack.
"Antigone" is the Greek tragedy about a woman named Antigone who goes against the king's orders to bury her brother.
Gail Murdirosian, chair of the Department of Performing Arts, applied for a grant for the integration of academics with production of "Antigone." She plans on having an honors symposium for "Antigone" and Athens.
Students have already been studying "Antigone" in their classes. In her Principles of Production class, sophomore Lauren Wesolowski has already worked on several research papers about the play.
Murdirosian wants to use Sign to heighten the text with visual presentations. She plans to incorporate Sign, spoken English and spoken classical Greek within the play.
Chosen for its relevance to contemporary society, Murdirosian hopes to translate the play's classical ideas in a meaningful way for modern audiences. According to Murdirosian, "Antigone" is the most sophisticated of Sophocles' plays.
For those unfamiliar with the play's background, Murdirosian added a fight scene in the beginning of the play. An official swords-master will choreograph the scene and the actors will be using authentic bastard swords.
In addition Donna Salamoff, a Sign Language expert, is training the chorus in American Sign Language to be used in the play. Salamoff hopes that students will have an opportunity to see and understand deaf culture.
"People don't realize how important their facial features are," Salamoff said. "In the deaf world, those things are precious."
Choral leader Rebecca Krichinsky, a junior, has been preparing for the play since summer 2004. She has been studying Sign interpretation and formalizing the role of the chorus.
Auditions were held last Saturday with 26 people attending. Students came prepared with monologues and were given crash courses in Sign to test their flexibility and adaptability.
Salamoff observed that some students had natural difficulties with Signing, including awkwardness, lack of coordination and confusion of speech and movement.
"It was a challenge," sophomore Daniel Rakowski said, "but not impossible."
Krichinsky believes all the students performed the Sign Language very well and that they did "an amazing job."
Call backs were held Sunday and today. The final cast will be announced Tuesday.
