Visual Art for the Visually Impaired: Theater Arts This video is posted online with the following chapter markers: Chapter 1. Clips from Past Productions Chapter 2. Barriers to Overcome Chapter 3. Benefits of Theater Arts Chapter 4. Student Interviews Description of graphical content is included between Description Start and Description End. Transcript Start [Music] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. [Music face out] Fade to black. Chapter 1. Clips from Past Productions Scott: Hello, everybody. Good afternoon and welcome to the latest installment of visual arts for the visually impaired. This is our web series where we talk about accommodations for the fine arts for students who are blind and have visual impairments. I'm Scott Baltisberger. I am a-- a specialist in visual impairment with the Outreach department of Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. And we have a real treat today because we have with us here, the famous, Robert Pierson, Theater Arts director here at TSBVI. Thanks for being here, Robert. Robert:  Thanks for having me, I'm excited for the webinar, excited to talk with folks. Scott: This is going to be great. There's not a lot of people out there with your expertise. How long have you been here at TSBVI, by the way? Robert: 25 plus years.  Just under that, about the time that I have been teaching theater arts. Scott: How many shows do you usually do every year? Robert: We've built into two shows now, one shown in the fall, one in the spring. I've directed... over the years 20 plus shows. Scott: Wow, yeah. You've had a lot of experience, you've seen a lot, so you have a lot-- you've seen a lot so you have a lot to share. Robert: Yeah. Scott: Why don't we just-- we have a lot of videos of those shows to share today. Why don't we just jump right into that and show-- we're going to show this first clip we're going to show is from Shrek, the musical. Robert: Yes, this was from last spring. Scott: Why don't we just jump in there and show it.  [ Video start: ] [  Music Playing ] [Students singing]. So the little green ogre went off to find a muddy patch of swamp land and there he stayed tucked away, all alone. [  Music Playing ] Captain: Hurry up, I haven't got all day. Hey you, puppet, move it! Pinocchio: Watch it! Captain: I can't, I'm blind. Pinocchio: Then why are you leading us? Ugly Duckling: Yeah, why are you leading us? [Indiscernible]. Captain: Shut it, Rubber Ducky! [Indiscernible]. Ugly Duckling: Don't call me Rubber ducky. [Indiscernible]. Captain: Hey, Granny dog over there! Bad Captain! Ugly Duckling: I am not rubber duck. Captain: Silence it, Witch. [Indiscernible]. Captain: Move it, puppet! Pinocchio: Hey, I am. Captain: Whatever, wooden one. Ugly Duckling: We are moving as fast as we can. Captain: Silence it, Ducky! Don't mind the mud. You will get used to it eventually. [ Video start: ] Donkey: Oh, no, I'm out of here. Prisoners: That's what we thought. Donkey: Oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness. Prisoners: That's what we did. Donkey: Dragonnnn! Prisoners: That's what we said. Dragon: [Singing] Another day in-- I get no sleep, when I saw you, you come around. Donkey: I'll come back later, then. [Students singing] You're gonna stay. You're gonna stay. You're gonna stay forever. Donkey: Man, I wish I could stay, but forever sounds like a long time. Chorus: Forever. Donkey: Man I got a [indiscernible] tournament. Dragon: [Singing] [ Video start: ] Fiona: [Singing] Well, good morning, Pied Piper. Pied Piper: What's so good about it. [Indiscernible] Fiona: Maybe you need to change your tune, mister. Pied Piper: Give me back my flute. Fiona: I won't. [playing flute] Fiona: [Singing] A brand new start... This morning... I'm okay. This morning, I'm okay. This morning... I'm okay. [ Music ] [ Video start: ] Gingerbread man: [Singing] We spent our whole lives, [indiscernible]. The way they think, that is. [Singing]. Pinocchio: [Singing] It's hard to be a puppet, so many strings attached. Ugly Duckling: [Singing] It's not a choice you make, it's just how you were hatched. [Singing]. [ Video end: ] Scott: Okay. So, Robert, just to clarify for everyone, each and every one of those actors was a student at Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Robert: This is correct, this is correct. Scott: So, we get into talking about, you know, what we wanted to talk about today were some of the benefits for students... with visual impairment being in the theater arts program. We also want to talk about some of the challenges to inclusion for those students, and being in the theater programs, and some strategies about that. And we're getting into some questions and comment. Hopefully we've got time today. I guess that's the thing to me, when I look at that, at one time I think that I counted 14 students on stage, singing and dancing. Robert: There are quite a few, yeah. If briefly I could unpack the clips that we just looked at. The very first clip was the fairy tale creatures walking up the aisle. And... the students that were involved in that, and the students that were involved in the whole production, come from different circular strains, here at TSBVI, and different levels of-- of mobility expertise. So the... the scene where they're walk being up the aisle-- where the fairytale creatures are walking up the aisle, in let's say your local school district that might take a day. You tell students where they're to enter and how they're to enter and-- and that's that and you turn the page and go to the next scene. In that instance, we had to-- you know, practice that over and over and over and-- and as-- you could see in the clip, certain students assisting the other students with mobility. That's a great example of a situation where you have-- where it really plays up the ensemble potential of theater making. Where-- where everyone has got each other's back. Scott: Yeah, I didn't-- in looking at that, you know, as you said, some of the students were assisting other students with their mobility. I think that is probably a big question for a lot of-- looking at people who are trying to include students in the theater programs throughout the state. That would be a big question for them. How do you get those kids on stage and get them to move on stage? And... one other thing-- one point from what you said about their assisting, I didn't really notice, the thing that struck me so much wasn't like oh, these guys have canes. Really didn't notice that, because of the quality of the production of the acting. You know, it really didn't-- that wasn't a factor. Robert: Right. And the students... we encourage the use of canes. We said several times in rehearsals, we're not trying to fool anyone. And so when they use their canes from rehearsal number one... it becomes a non‑issue, really. Scott: So, then I think it was the third scene, we showed from that clip, where the young lady, it seemed like she dropped her cane at one point. Robert: Right, right. And... that student probably wouldn't be terribly pleased we are using that as an example. But she kind of waves that as a badge of honor, a flag of honor. She... dropped her cane mid‑way through the song and then throughout the rest of the song using search patterns with her feet determines by the end of the song where the cane has fallen, and then-- then rights herself using the carpet strips that we have running on the stage. She gets herself into the correct spot to move forward after that. Scott: Uh‑huh, right. So, real good save, she did real good job of that. I did notice on that-- on the way you had the stage set up, there was a carpet strip running I guess that you would say down from the back stage to the front of the stage. Robert: Up stage to down stage we have a carpet strip that runs and this assists the actors in determining where they are. On our stage, specifically, TSBVI stage, we also have a-- a-- a piece of transition, a little piece of rubber that transitions between the hardwood floor and the tile and that runs from stage right to stage left. So basically we have a situation where we have a cross on the stage and so they can use those-- in stage lingo, you have your down stage left and your down stage right, your up stage left, up stage right. So they are able to have something to help them orient themselves to that situation. Scott: Yeah, that's a great idea. Obviously worked, very well because they were singing, dancing, moving around, and doing a great job of it. Robert: Yeah. The clip with the dragon, when they are in the dragon's keep, that actor really relied on that strip, because in her scene, and because of her costume, she was in a situation where using a cane would have-- it would have been a little bit problematic. And we could have made it work, but she was eager to do the dance moves and-- and there were a lot of things with the arms and with the hand that just wouldn't have been possible with the cane. And so that carpet runner from-- from up stage to down stage really assisted with that. With that scene. Scott: Great, great. Let's watch another clip right now. This is from a production called 12 Angry Jurors. Robert, if you notice anything in this, feel free to comment for the people out in the audience. And you guys who are tuning in and watching, please feel free-- we've got the chat room, if you have any questions, this is a great opportunity for you guys that may have some questions about accommodation modifications for theater arts students who have visual impairments. Robert can address those now. So let's watch 12 Angry Jurors. [ Video start: ] [ Music Playing] All right, ladies and gentlemen. Let's try to seat yourselves... [ Music Playing] Robert: We have one of the other actors push the other actor's wheelchair in a... very natural thing that you would have happen in any situation. You know I never would have known that if he wouldn't have told me. Would you? I suppose not. I kind of forgot it. All I've done all day is sweat! Not sweating like that kid who we's trying. Yes. You would think that they would air condition this place. I almost dropped dead in court. [ Video start: ] His window is right opposite hers, across the L-tracks, and she swore she saw him do it. Robert: Here we see the actor using the set pieces to totally-- totally blind actor uses the set pieces to guide him in his blocking. In his movement. So I want to ask you something. How come you believe her? She's one of them, too, isn't she? You're a pretty smart fellow, aren't you? Hey, now take it easy. Come on. [Indiscernible] relax! [ Video end: ] Scott: Is the-- I have a question about that. So the actor-- the actor in the wheelchair, he was blind. The other actor, was he blind, as well? Robert: Yes, yes, the lead actor, as well. He chose not to use a cane. There were several students in that- in that production that used canes. And watching that... scene and thinking about... the students that were in that show, there were quite a few students that were working on the social skill of facing the person you're talking to. And that is something that I think VI teachers in the field-- is a social skill that work on often, and theater is a wonderful way to work on those skills in a-- for lack of a better way to put it-- in a non‑personal way. As I direct the students, you know, I direct them to face the person because, well, that's if you are in the audience watching the show, you would expect the other person to be facing the person, and it helps with the believability in the scene, and all high school students want to be believable when they hit the stage. Scott: Sure, sure, sure. I was noticing some of the-- you know, some of the... body mechanics, the gestures, that type of a thing. Like you said it's, you know, we typically-- in school-- we try to address that. But this is a very non‑intrusive, non‑personal way to kind of say, here, this is really sort of the typical way you would be portraying this character. Robert: Without a doubt. Without a doubt. I've- I've-- I used to also teach English and I've found that a great way to-- to help students with their fluidity is to throw in something like-- well let's say we're reading a play or reading characters or something like that-- put an accent on it or something like that. That puts them out of thinking about their reading and more thinking about the accent they're doing. And the fluidity seems to come with-- with the wanting to be believable and wanting to make the accent correct or something like that. Scott: Right. It's a great functional way to address a lot of different skills. Robert: Without a doubt, without a doubt. Scott: I wanted to read this one quote, though, that you turned me on to, from Shannon Weaver in the Austin Chronicle, after he saw one of your-- it wasn't a TSB show, it was another project that you were working on in the community. But I thought this was-- this was really great. I mean, just looking at these last two clips that we saw, this was my feeling, as well. So he says, "I discovered the acting company of TILT, that was your program-- is primarily composed of people with special needs, disability, unique abilities. I'll admit, I was a bit thrown. How could I review this piece? By what rubric?  Where would the bar being fairly set? Once I stopped myself from thinking like a privileged ableist viewer, I settled in and quickly found myself in awe of the passion and dedication and talent put forth by a wholly inspirational cast." And I think that really kind of sums it up. I mean, you don't really think about, you know, oh, wow, these are blind actors, or these are visually impaired people doing theater. These are just really good... artists. Robert: Correct, correct. And I like that quote because I think it's-- if- if audiences just in general outside of the world of special education would-- could-- could switch their paradigm a little bit and-- and view things, I think it's-- you could see that there's so much there to offer. Scott: Yeah, okay. Let's look at another clip. So, this will be Willy Wonka, Jr.  So let's watch that and see what other-- what else we can pick up on. [ Video start: ] [ Music Playing] Who can make tomorrow? [Singing]. Robert: This actor loved the rock band Kiss and was a fan of Gene Simmons, especially, and... he wanted to bring all of that, all of that rock and roll to his role. And-- I didn't see a problem with it. [ Laughter ]. Here we have another student who is using a wheelchair. Also has... CP. And we were able to make it work just fine. [ Music Playing] [Singing] Because the candy man makes it good... [ Video start: ] [ Music Playing] Robert: Here's our actor from 12 Angry Jurors, again, in another role. And this is a wonderful example of, well, sure we can do some dancing. We can do some high kicks here, and those will be coming in here in a second. [Duo singing]. I think positive. The moment I do, I'm in the pink, thinking positive! Remember this song, when things go wrong, and you don't know what to do. In no time, you'll be thinking positive, too! [ Music Playing] [Singing] Robert: Here's an example of-- of something that I like to do is-- is use-- you also saw this in the Shrek video-- using the whole auditorium. It helps with-- with O&M. And it gives the student a sense of the whole building and where the audience is and their role in-- in the play. [ Music Playing] [Singing] Robert: Noticing the wonderful costumes done by a colleague, Mary Faith Cowart. [ Music Playing] [Singing] Of course the students in that group, we have everything from low‑vision students to students with no vision. [ Video start: ] This right here is a little tough to see. It's when they're in the scary river. But this-- this actor right here, very interested in being in the play-- only knew one of the songs from the play. And he was in a different-- different classroom than the majority of my students. [Screaming in the background]. Robert: So, what I thought to do was, for that song specifically, double cast him as the alter ego of Willy Wonka. [ Video end: ] Chapter 2. Barriers to Overcome Scott: Very cool. Yeah. That's great. Let's look-- let's look at some of the barriers. We've talked a little bit about the barriers, but let's look at some of those again. So, you know, we talked about the visual orientation of the body. And gestures as being two things with students who are visually impaired. Because when I think about barriers, I think about people that are out there in the school district around the state who-- TVIs who may have students who want to be in visual arts, but may not be-- maybe discouraged from doing so, because of some of these ideas about, well, there's a visual orientation, there's a lot of gestures that-- that some of our students may not naturally pick up on; mobility, there's always a concern about, you know, can they get around the stage, are they going to like have an accident or are very going to cause problems for ensemble work. We have been addressing all of that. Just as a general impression that a person with visual impairment is not capable. Now the other thing, down on that bullet list, braille transcriptions. We talked about that as actual Braille copies being bulky and hard to carry around, when you are doing rehearsals, blocking, right? Robert: Sure, sure. Go back to your original statement. There are students in the local districts, without a doubt, every one, that would love to be on stage. And at least the students that I've had at TSB, a lot of them have come to me saying, I would not necessarily have gotten a chance because they think I might fall off the stage or I might not be able to get from one place to another in a timely fashion. As I'm-- on the timely fashion aspect, I've-- I've used the-- the adage that there's only one thing more frightening to a student than a four-way crossing in an orientation and mobility lesson, and that is getting from one part of the stage to another part of the stage with 400 people watching you. [ Laughter ]. That-- I have seen students rise to that challenge just wonderfully. With regard to visual orientation and gestures and mobility, we need to take-- I find that I take more time. And you have to build that time into it. You have to build the rehearsal time with the actor. It-- in-- in your typical LEA high school from-- from the table read to the opening night is-- is usually four and a half weeks. And-- and what I-- I tend to take about eight weeks. And that-- that brings me to the bullet point with regard to braille transcriptions. We do a lot of what we call table work. And-- in a-- in a regular production, you would have the actors do a read through and maybe just a couple of days of reading through the scenes, talking about the scenes, and what does this character mean, and... what are the beats of the scene and things like that. I tend to build more table work into it, because it... assists them in memorizing. The more we can memorize, before we start moving around on the stage, the better. Now, having said that, yes, a braille book is huge and bulky and thick. And a braille script-- a lot of students kind of put it on their side and are reading it upside‑down like that. But Braille Notes, portable braille devices, iPads, iPhones with being able to use voiceover and kind of swipe through the script as they go, that has helped, too. Scott: Yeah, okay. Hillary Keys- Hillary Keys our old friend from up in Region 10. I know Hillary is a big fan of the arts. She says, I like the use of levels when the students go in front of the stage. Do you ever use multiple levels on stage? Raked stage? Platforms, et cetera? If so, other than highlighting steps and edges or slope in the case of the raked stage, what are some special accommodations? Robert: I have-- depending on the production, I have used platforms and step units and stair units and things like that to help with those levels. I have also found that... once I hit, at least on our stage, about maybe 15 students on stage, some even less than that, it-- it behooves the production, and behooves everyone, to have as clean of an area as possible to move about. And that's not to say, you know, we wouldn't have a platform at a certain place. But when you have, you know, mass exits and entrances-- not using levels works, but I definitely see-- Hillary, definitely, have used platforms and things like that on stage. Scott: Yeah. I think your point about taking the time to kind of really work on that orientation and mobility prior to-- the seat work, getting everything all that kind of... taken care of before you take to stage, I think is a point well made. Robert: I include the orientation and mobility instructor, as well, for all of the students in the cast. And if there are... situations that prove problematic, then I definitely pull them in to kind of troubleshoot things. Scott: Great, okay. Let's look at another clip now. This is Small Actors. [ Video start: ] Robert: Okay. Right here we have a prop on the wall-- the cast list and we have the-- we have the list in large print and Braille. ... then has nothing to do the rest-- Robert: The actor on the right, is-- is-- uses a cane and-- in this scene the actor on the left is-- is... low vision. Mother: Tell your father what you just told me. Daughter: I'm gonna be in the school play. Mother: She's going to be Juliet! What are you thinking? Father: No! Daughter: Yeah! Father: Congratulations. Daughter: Oh, thanks. Robert: This student in particular-- was really focusing on keeping his head up in conversation. And this was an instance where-- where we could really practice that in scene. Facing the person that he's talking to. Mother: I just can't go. Father: I am. [Indiscernible] Daughter: No. Mother: I want to see you play the part. Daughter: No, mom, really. Ugh! Mother: It's important to me. Daughter: No, it's important to me! Mom. If you cancel that trip, I'll drop out of the play. I'm not kidding! Father: Sound like she means it, Laura. Mother: Oh, all right, it was just a thought. [ Video start: ] Daughter: [indiscernible] you can sit right here. Robert: Okay. Here's an instance where the script called for an actor to-- to read from a script. And the script that the actor is reading from is a braille script. And it took... quite a bit of rehearsal just to get the fluidity needed... for the scene. She was pretty quick braille reader anyway, but we worked on it more specifically and--    Mother: Your father was so happy, he just went. Daughter: Really? Mother: Sobbed. He put his head on my shoulder and cried and cried. I've never seen your father cry before. Have you? Daughter: No. Well, yes. [ Laughter ] Jeanette, go away. Jeanette: If you say so. Mother: Bye Jeanette, good to see you. Good performance. Robert: Jeanette's exit right there took some work and took some rehearsal time, but it comes off really clean. [ Video start: ] Robert: This happens towards the end of the play, where... the actor is... needing to pretend to drive, keeping his head up. And focusing on keeping those hands at 2:00 and 10:00... Father: I'm just saying keep it in perspective. Mother: No, I don't want to! Daughter: It's not a tragedy. What kind of logic is that? Let's not be mad now, because tomorrow might be worse! What good does that do? [ Video end: ] Scott: Nice, nice work. So, some of the barriers, some more barriers-- I thought would just be good to touch on. Again, looking at maybe not so much of at a residential school, such as TSBVI, but for teachers working out in the districts. I think that, you know, one thing that you hear a lot is that TVIs have time limitations, they have a high caseload, it's hard for them to focus on theater arts, because it's not a-- it's not a STAAR tested item. Robert: Sure. Scott: Just the arts in general aren't given as much attention as-- as other areas. There's a-- there's very limited preparation in-service training for TVIs in the theater arts. I would offer that there's probably none. [ Laughter ]. If you guys out there in the audience could let me know how much actual training in theater arts you got, that would be great. But I-- my feeling is probably just very, very little of it. And we talked about the focus on the core courses. TVIs when they put their work in, they're trying to focus on these STAAR test items, because they're trying to get their kids to pass school. And then we also touched upon earlier that sometimes the subject matter may not be viewed as really appropriate for a VI student. They may shuffle a bit more into music and choir, things like that. But I wanted you to talk about, you know, just the idea that theater is not seen as an essential skill or theater is not seen as a core subject area, but there is a good argument, I think, for-- for giving children the opportunity to participate in theater arts. Robert: Without a doubt. I have seen theater arts and work on production improve reading fluency. As I've mentioned that-- that-- when you are in-- in the thick of a script, and you have all of your peers around you, and you want to make it sound real. And part of making it sound real is moving those fingers very quickly over the Braille. And-- and in addition to that, putting the right amount of intonation in your voice to, you know, make the script fly, so to speak. And so... reading skills-- it improves social skills. I don't know what study it was, or how formal of a study it was, but at one point I-- I read someplace that people are most happy when they are at the theater. And-- yeah, I don't know whether that was an official poll or what. [ Laughter ]. But it's-- it's a place where, as I tell students, they can come and make mistakes and be okay with those mistakes. It's a safe environment. Because, students are putting themselves out there, you know, acting and the arts is-- it's a fairly personal thing. And when you put yourself out there, it's-- it's good to know that you're in a safe place. So socially, I've seen improvements with students across the board. Of course, orientation and mobility, and simple-- simple things like facing the person that you're talking to. Tone of voice. Projection. Projection is something that I work on quite a bit, because I-- I think sometimes students get on stage and they're-- they talk in a very conversational tone and-- they don't know that they need to play to the back of the theater. And so, self presentation is a big aspect of it, too. And-- and, you know, I think theater instruction fosters that, for sure. Let's see... Scott: Why don't we talk a little bit more about the impact, but let's watch another clip. I'm loving these clips. So, let's talk a little bit more, hold your thoughts, we will go into that some more. Let's watch the next clip, this is Check Please. [ Video start: ] Robert: This is the student that played the father in the previous clip. And the actor that played his wife. Rock Star: Hello, more like 'hell' o. I made a joke. All right! Wow! Robert: So this student, that little high kick that he did, that was kind of big. This student, in particular, works with related staff on balance issues and things like that. So that high kick was big. Rock Star: Woohoo! Female Date: Awesome! Rock Star: Hey, you got your own punctuation, baby! Female Date: Yeah. It's my way of adding a dot, dot, dot. Rock Star: [Indiscernible] Female Date: Yeah, though you do wear more makeup than me. Rock Star: Now, if we jump on this train called love, there are a few things that you got to understand about a rock sensation! Robert: That student in particular also, the actor on the right, helped me with the... sound design... for the show, to make sound effects and stuff like that. I include students in all aspects of the production. Female Date: I'm the same way. Rock Star: Oh, that look in your eyes tells me you want me to play you a song right now? Female Date: No, they're not saying that. Rock Star: But I have it tuned up. They probably should. Female Date: I do not want you to play a song. Scott: All of those social things where he's turning toward her to talk... Rock Star: Takes my breath away every time. [ Laughter ] Robert: Just- just the kind of geometry of getting his guitar on correctly, he trouble shoots like a champ. Female Date: Seriously? Rock Star: One, two, one, two, three, four... Unbelievable! Right? Female Date: It's-- not even plugged in. Rock Star: What? Can't hear ya! The music's too overpowering. Whooo! Robert: With Check Please, one of the neat things that came out of Check Please was... the playwright-- of course, they I'm sure, from the publisher, they get notice that their play is being done at XX high school or theater or whatever. And this-- the playwright reached out and said, my play has never been done by a... visually impaired or blind cast. And we ended up sending him a copy of the video that we did. And he was very impressed. And offered to-- to do a Q&A with the students, and so it was pretty neat. Scott: Yeah, yeah. Let's just go into a little bit about-- talk a little bit more about the impact of students being excluded from theater arts. You know, we've talked about how-- about all of the creative problem solving techniques that you incorporate into theater arts instruction. Things about-- things addressing like motor skills, mobility skills, interpersonal skills, also addresses some-- addresses some-- some language arts, things like that. The other part, the second bullet there, excluded from sharing the common experience of peers. If you are out at a high school, and your friends are in the theater group, I mean that's-- that social aspect of being in school is very important, and if you are telling children they can't do that simply, because of the reason that they have a visual impairment, you are really just cutting them off from a whole aspect of school. The third thing that theater arts, you know, theater arts-- acting and theater productions are a huge component of culture in society. If you are cutting them off from that, you are saying-- it's always been my same argument with excluding children from the visual arts, so‑called visual arts. You are saying okay you can't do that, it's not for you. It's a huge part of our society. So much-- so much revolves around acting, revolves around theater, revolves around those kind of productions. Finally, for us to tell a student, you know, you can't-- I'm deciding for you that you shouldn't be involved in this production, in theater arts. You are taking this self‑determination, taking the decision out of their hands. I mean, a lot of students may say, well I want to check out theater arts. It may end up being something they don't enjoy. But, hey, it's their choice, not ours as adults, as TVIs, as-- as outsiders. Robert: Sure, sure. And... I think that I mentioned earlier, I've had students come to me saying that they- they tried to tryout for a play and they were maybe townsperson 4 in the background of the scene and really did not get a chance to-- you know, to step up and... deliver. I mean, in a sense you're-- if you take something like this away, you are saying, "Well, you can't pretend." Because, in a sense, that's what theater is. It's-- it's pretending and... having a good time at pretending, and feeling safe about pretending. So to take that away when-- when their peers are-- when all of their peers around them are doing it, yeah, it's-- it's not good. [ Laughter ]. I can't think of a better way to say it. Scott: Yeah, okay. Let's watch-- let's watch To Burn a Witch, now. I've not-- I didn't have a chance to watch this one, I'm real interested in seeing this. [ Video start: ] Woman 1: I want to live! [Crying]. Woman 2: I want to live. too. But they won't believe us, unless we make a confession. The only way they will give us any sympathy or understanding is if we [indiscernible] [ Video start: ] Robert: Okay. In this scene we have the actor on the left, she uses crutches, and so, because the play is set in the 1600s, we thought, well, we'll make those crutches look like, you know, wooden sticks. That was one of the creative way, the student up stage near the door-- had some limited mobility, and so we used the-- just the door and the walls as a way to help that actor move about. [ Video end: ] Scott: Yeah. Yeah. I think the tone of that play, what I liked, you know, we've seen a lot of different clips, and the tone of that may was very different then the last couple that we have seen. Very somber, you know. Robert: We competed for-- in Texas, we have something called UIL one‑act play. And it's where-- where different schools, depending on their size, compete against each other. And we advanced three rounds to the area using that play. And yeah-- Chapter 3. Benefits of Theater Arts Scott: Fantastic, wow, great. Okay. Just a little bit about the benefits of being involved-- involving students in visual impairments in theater arts. So, you know, some of the things that they do-- they do need access to the full general education curriculum, which includes the fine arts. True. Scott: As you said, it can enhance their language arts. Makes them familiar with significant cultural practice. Some other things, looking at the Expanded Core Curriculum, you said they are working on orientation and mobility, they are working on sensory integration, awareness of body, gestures, and as you have pointed out several times, it's a format to teach them, or give them a way to practice it without just sort of telling them what to do, or calling them when they're doing it wrong, out in the, you know, in a real life situation. Robert: They get lots of practice, definitely. And in-- in a cursory way, when we did that play for competition, the students from the other schools were-- it was an education for the students from the other schools and holy cow you can-- you know, other folks can do this, too. They can pretend as well as we can. [ Laughter ] Scott: Yeah. Now, you'd mentioned, again, in the Expanded Core Curriculum, how it works on social skills, and you found even with children who have autism, it kind of helps. Because, again, it gives them that format to practice it in sort of a systematic way, without just-- without necessarily calling them out in the "Real word." Some other benefits are, you know, self‑esteem. I've seen that myself when I've talked to these kids coming out of these theater productions. Robert: Huge. Scott: Really, really, you see kids really blossom. The idea that this is something they have to have commitment-- you build commitment and responsibility. Very important traits, which generalize across many areas to be successful in life. Working on self‑expression. Every-- it's-- everyone needs some form of self‑expression. And self‑determination. We talked about that, how maybe a very small percentage of people will actually become... professional theater arts people. But it may be something that they enjoy, something they work on as a hobby and-- Robert: Rec-leisure activities. Scott: Rec-leisure groups, yeah. So... we're speeding up a little bit here, because I really want to make sure we get to a couple of these videos. One of these is the The Wizard of Oz. [ Video start: ] Robert: From 2007, I believe, or 2008. [ Music ] Here you see a really good shot of the-- of the carpet strips that we use to assist the actors. Scott: You know, I think that-- just that would help so much with-- with the production, in high schools. Just that one modification would help so much, incorporating blind and visually impaired students. Cowardly Lion: I think poppies is my favorite flower. Dorothy: They smell so wonderful. [ Video start: ] Scarecrow: Look out for the apples! Robert: When they are in the forest with the angry trees, you see some great, interesting search patterns and search techniques to get those prop apples and, you know, you can hear the audience a couple of times, you know, joining in with the fun of-- of these students searching for those apples. I think audiences like to see things that are difficult for actors to accomplish. Scott: Yeah, sure. Robert: And the actors are keeping it light. It's not a frantic, we have to find this prop situation. It's built into the show. Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that situation of throwing-- throwing objects and then picking them up would be something that I think would just-- a theater teacher out in high school might think how are we possibly going to do that. And here it's very easily addressed. Robert: I think it's a matter of- of backing down and once again changing your expectation, or the paradigm that you are teaching through. [ Video end: ] Scott: Right. Very cool. Chapter 4. Student Interviews I would like to-- we're going to skip ahead a little bit here. We have kind of talked about the tools and accommodations, we had a slide for that. But I really, really want to get to this interview with a couple of your actors, why don't you kind of set this up for us? Robert: Okay, this is Devin Gutierrez and Victoria Sanders, and before they had the roles in Shrek, last year, neither of them had hit the stage before. They both have... great musical skills. And-- and with regard to their voices, could certainly rise to the challenge. But... apart from-- from just the-- the getting up there and doing it, they had never done something like this before and it changed them. You can see. Scott: All right. Let's watch. [ Video start: ] Devin: Four years ago, the first production, here, that I had ever watched was Almost Maine. And I thought it was an excellent production. And I decided, I guess at some point, that I had to be involved with whatever was going on next. Victoria: Well, I thought they were really good characters, and the way they played their roles was just... really amazing to me. I, at first, did not want to audition as a huge, major character, such as-- Fiona. I wanted to audition as a small role. And I thought, it's just my first time acting, I need to be a tiny character like a person who only sings one song. I wasn't thinking about the acting, I wasn't thinking in the terms of I can actually do this. [ Video start: ] clip from Shrek Fiona: I am eternally in your debt. [ Video end: ] Victoria: It's my first time, I'm nervous. Now that I have done two plays, I will keep... acting, because I like the experience, and I like being able to portray that character and make myself shine. Devin: As time went on, I kind of cultivated a little bit of an interest in theater, but every time I thought about it, I just realized that there were so many barriers to-- my inclusion into the theater programs, because-- because, you know, O&M, you know, teachers like, "What if you fell off the stage?," you know? What if this, what if that. You know, "We don't want you to have your cane on stage, you will draw too much attention to yourself!" were some of the things that I heard. And, of course, then there was other students who were like, "Oh, you know, there's... just no way that you can do that, you know, you're blind!" You know, it just doesn't happen. Blind people don't go into theater. Blind people don't act. It doesn't happen. And that kind of quashed any of the interest that I had, because by the time that I was in fifth or sixth grade I had this preconceived notion that I wasn't going to be able to do that. And I wasn't going to be, you know, good enough, and that my blindness would be a setback. Which I unfortunately found to be a common occurrence. Victoria: I really like when you're up on stage, you can just feel the way that you kind of interact-- the character kind of interacts with the audience. When there's a funny moment, when it's like the end of the song, the way the choreography-- just the way it feels when you are acting and being the character, like being in that moment is like my favorite... part of acting. It's knowing that people like what I'm doing and I'm feeling proud of myself and I'm becoming another person, and it's kind of like-- it's kind of like fiction is real at that point. But not quite. Devin: It's living in the moment. It's being... a part of this experience, knowing that your role, and everyone else's role, is what keeps the ball rolling. No pun intended. [applause on video] You know, hearing the 200, 300 plus member audience clap for a song that you just completed, or laugh for a really funny line that you just said, the supporting character is standing right next to you, and it's-- it's a great feeling. But I just have really fond memories of, you know-- and staying after rehearsal to like 9:30 at night, closing up-- closing up the theater and, you know, walking back to the dorm with a sense of fulfillment that like, every time I run my lines, every time I do my blocking, every time I sing a song, memorize choreography, then I've kind of helped something that's bigger than I am, and expanded it, and enriched it by-- you know, by doing something that I love to do so much. Victoria: I enjoy being able to please people in my own way, and acting, and becoming a character, and all of that stuff is extremely fun. And it gives enjoyment to the audience members and I think that... I've kind of learned a lot, and even helps with my academics. Like, say, I mean, reading the lines at the table reads can help my reading speed, or maybe there are some words in the scripts that I have never seen before. Or even in the rehearsals, some blocking words that I've never heard before. And I'm learning more vocabulary. Devin: And I think what theater helped to show me, is that limiting yourself just isn't a good idea, and that if you really set your mind to doing something, and if you, you know, have passion in what you're doing, then, anything is possible, and you can overcome all of the barriers that stand in your way. Roles can be small, but importance is immeasurable. To the crew, you know, the set designer, the lighting, everything that goes into a production, every single role. As far as the whole canes okay stage, attracting attention from the audience-- canes are not a symbol of disability. Canes are simply a symbol of difference. And when-- and actually when they-- when they can be used creatively in blocking. And should, in fact, not be thought of even as a symbol of difference, more as a symbol of overcoming adversity. Because despite the person's visual impairment, or complete blindness in some cases, they are overcoming many, many obstacles. Lots of them. But many of which are the same obstacles that are being overcome by the sighted portion of the cast. So, I feel like it's very important that-- that canes, if the person feels like they'll need it, that they should be allowed to have it. I used my cane in all of the productions. And... it's-- it never once was there a comment from any audience member of, "Oh, well, we don't like canes on stage." Because like I said, it's a symbol of--    Scott: Very nice. Robert: Devin and-- he is well spoken. And-- Scott: Both of them. Robert: Both Devin and Victoria are very well spoken, and really elucidated, I think, perhaps more clearly than I have. Scott: Yes. We could have just ran that, and you and I shut up, and stay in the background. Thanks, that was really great. Thanks for the Outreach AV crew for putting that together. That was beautiful. Robert: Without a doubt. Scott: There's a poll up, guys. Robert and I wanted to point out don't just think of TSBVI as a resource for you guys that are out there in the districts. Don't think of us as a resource for like math and braille and technology. We are also a resource for the fine arts, of which theater arts is an important part. If you would like to be in contact, Robert would love to hear from you and work with you on what he's done for theater arts. There's his contact information. Fill out the poll, too. Add your email in there. Robert, this has been really, really cool. Thanks for coming by. We should do something again. Let's definitely do some more work. I... learned a lot and I think everybody else out there did, too. Robert: Thanks so much, thanks everyone for tuning in. Scott: Okay. Thanks, everybody, and we will see you at our next installment of fine arts for the visually impaired. [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black.