Need help?Contact us
Inspired by the life of Laurent Clerc, also known as ‘The Father of the Deaf.’ This play is a ferocious and funny exploration of love, ambition and the roots of sign language – and a story about the choices we make when the life we want comes at a cost.
Performed through spectacular visual language, four modalities of sign language, spoken English, French and creative captions, this unique play brings Deaf history vividly to life while asking profoundly universal questions about identity, belonging, love and the price of change.
1816, Deaf pioneer Laurent Clerc leaves France for America with a mission, determined to prove that he can stand as an equal in a hearing world.
With young Reverend Thomas Gallaudet, Clerc sets out to build a school where Deaf children can learn, communicate and imagine a future beyond isolation. But when life has other plans, falling in love with a Deaf woman, his world is thrown into crisis.
The school’s future is at stake. Clerc must choose between the institution he has devoted his life to and the future he has begun to imagine for himself.