Ebisu Sign Language Theatre Laboratory:
Performance as Research, from Phase 1 to Phase 2
Gal Belsitzman and Atay Citron
University of Haifa
The Ebisu Sign Language Theatre Laboratory was created as part of the Grammar of the Body Project, in order to explore the nature and limits of bodily expression by deaf signing actors in a theatrical medium. The work proceeded in two phases.
Phase 1 began in June 2014 and led to the conception of the first production, ‘It’s Not About Ebisu’. During this phase, the actors were engaged in forging the group’s identity and establishing their working methods (“the Ebisu tool-kit”), by combining devices from sign language and physical theatre.
During Phase 2, the actors further explored their physical expressivity and the performative potential of sign language. Signs, idioms and metaphors were studied through theatrical techniques, leading the actors to creatively stretch the bounds of linguistic devices of sign language, such as iconicity and simultaneity. Phase 2 focused more on deaf culture and ideology, using the actors’ personal experiences as theatrical material. This phase led to Ebisu’s second production, ‘Their Language’, which dealt with oral education and the oppression of deaf and hard of hearing children within the education system.
This talk will focus on Phase 2, through the analysis of videos from studio work and the second show.
