The first deaf event in Linfield College history was hosted by the American Sign Language Club in Ice Auditorium on May 1.
A Night of IMPROV with Trix: “Whose ASL Is It?” A One Deaf-Woman Show was a spin-off of the TV show “Whose Line is it Anyways?” and was performed entirely in ASL.
Professional ASL storyteller Trix Bruce did not practice or prepare ahead of time for any of the topics she performed. All of the story ideas came from the audience.
Bruce captivated her audience with dramatic signing and acting abilities. Not only did she use individual signs, but she also incorporated them into smaller stories that she invented off the top of her head.
“The show was hilarious, and Trix is very talented,” senior ASL Club President Sallie Katter said. “It’s so fascinating to see deaf people sign because it’s so fluid and fast.”
Donations were collected at the event, and all of the proceeds went to the Oregon School for the Deaf. The ASL Club raised $120 from the event.
Approximately 125 people attended the storyteller event. Some audience members were Linfield students, including students from ASL classes; others were hearing and deaf community members or students from OSD.
Bruce started the show by introducing herself with a PowerPoint presentation, which revealed that she has been deaf since six months old and that she first became interested in acting after she performed the role of Helen Keller in a play during her freshman year in high school.
Following the brief introduction, Bruce performed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The words appeared on the screen while the music played, but she performed the song in ASL.
After the anthem, Bruce told an A-to-Z story about painting. She invited an audience member to join her on the stage to help her tell the story.
They took turns alternating letter signs, while incorporating them into the acting. For instance, the letter “B” was used as a paint brush and the letter “I” was used to touch up a spot on the painting. This story and the ones that followed required the audience to visualize the scene and what was taking place.
Bruce also had all of the children in the audience get on stage and sign a story with her about trees, their falling leaves and the blowing wind. Then she had adult members, hearing and deaf, join her on stage to act out an elevator and car wash scene. However, this is just a small sample of all of the acts that she did that night.
“I enjoyed seeing how the deaf community responded to the performance and how the hearing did,” freshman ASL Club member Megan Bahrt said. “It was interesting to see the different reactions and how the deaf community interacted with Trix.”
Even though the ASL Club hosted the event, the Associated Students of Linfield College and Multicultural Programs sponsored it.
“This is the biggest that the club has been in a while, and we are hoping to get members more involved in deaf events,” Bahrt said.
Bahrt and Katter said that the ASL Club is planning to host more events. There is talk of bringing another professional ASL storyteller to campus next year and having the ASL Club members sign songs, Katter said.
Jessica Prokop
Culture reporter Jessica Prokop can be reached at [email protected]