ASL YOU LIKE IT
A Conversation with the Artists
Fiasco Theater and Deaf West Theatre are currently developing a bilingual ASL/English production of Shakespeare’s AS YOU LIKE IT.
A major part of this process is the translation of Shakespeare’s text into ASL.
This Zoom panel is a sneak peek into the artistic process with Directors of ASL Alexandria Wailes and Andrew Morrill who are midway through a rough draft translation. Join them for a dive into the process of translating Shakespeare’s language. What are the challenges and exciting opportunities of expressing Shakespeare’s text in ASL, and perhaps through the body? This Q&A panel will be moderated by Katherine Williams, Shakespeare scholar at University of Toronto. English and ASL interpretation will be provided.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
January 6th 5:30-6:30pm ET
via Zoom
The Directors of ASL’s work on this project is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Andrew Morrill
Andrew Morrill (he/him) is an Obie-winning theatremaker and actor. His selected acting credits include “Trash” (Out of Box Theatrics), “Oedipus” (Deaf West and Getty Villa), “The Christians” (Phamaly Theatre), and The Vanderburgs' “Dancing Girl” (SheNYCArts). He received a Helen-Hayes nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performer in Musical for portraying Mayor Shinn in “The Music Man” (Olney Theater Center). His recent artistic sign language direction was with Levi Holloway’s “Grey House” (Broadway), directed by Joe Mantello. He also received the Michael Feingold Award from the American Theatre Wing for his DASL work with Ryan J. Haddad’s “Dark Disabled Stories” ( The Public / Bushwick Starr). His additional DASL credits include“Hamlet” (Deaf West & Fiasco Theater), “Oedipus” (Deaf West & Getty Villa), “This Moment” (Prospect Theater Company), and “Titus Andronicus” (The Public & Apothetae). He also co-wrote with his collaborator, James Caverly, “Trash” at JACK NY & IRT and “Thank You Ryan for a Clean Microwave” at Ars Nova’s ANT Fest. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Alexandria Wailes
Alexandria Wailes (she/her) is a multi-hyphenated artist. Her work includes acting, dancing, directing, choreography and DASL (director of artistic sign language).
Broadway: for colored girls… (Booth), Deaf West’s Spring Awakening (Lena Horne Theater), Big River (Roundabout). Off Broadway: I Was Most Alive with You (Playwrights Horizons), A Kind Of Alaska (New York Live Arts); Regional: Oedipus (The Getty Villa), Our Town (Pasadena Playhouse), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Mixed Blood); TV: ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent’, ‘High Maintenance’, ‘Little America’, ‘Nurse Jackie’, CW’s ‘The Flash’. Associate choreographer on Deaf West’s Spring Awakening.
Director of Artistic Sign Language: Broadway’s Children of a Lesser God and King Lear; Regional: Private Jones (Goodspeed & Signature), Oedipus; Television: This Close seasons 1 & 2; Quantico season 3; Film: A Quiet Place 1 & 2, Wonderstruck, and CODA (2022 multiple Academy Award winner).
Ms. Wailes was the 2023 short play festival director for Deaf Spotlight’s biennial event. She co-directed Skylight Music Theatre’s production of Spring Awakening in early 2024 and directed A Not So Quiet Nocturne for VOCA (Visionaries of the Creative Arts) at the Atlas in Washington, D.C. For Deaf Broadway at Lincoln Center’s Summer Stages, she directed Once On This Island.
Awards: 2022 Chita Rivera winner, 2020 Obie winner, 2020 Lucille Lortel nominee, 2022 Disability Futures Fellowship.
Dr. Katherine
Williams
Dr. Katherine Williams is a professor at the University of Toronto, where she teaches and writes about early modern drama, especially Shakespeare, and critical disability studies. She has published widely, including the award-winning Unfixable Forms: Disability, Performance, and the Early Modern English Theater (Cornell University Press, 2021). She is currently directing a multi-year research project, “Representing Disability Histories”; and, with Gregg Mozgala and Kim Weild, she is Co-Artistic Lead of The Apothetae residency at The Public Theater (NYC).