AIE Directory

Residency Artist - Theatre

SignStage

William Morgan
11635 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44106
Phone: (216) 325-7559
Fax: (216) 325-7659
Emails: wmorgan@chsc.org
Website: www.chsc.org

The focus of SignStage is on integrating the Ohio Fine Arts Academic Content Standards for Theatre within a school's curriculum. We have successfully done this in EVERY age group. SignStage's innovative theatre programming includes classroom activities that teach performance techniques as well as creative thinking. Our educators are fluent In ASL (American Sign Language) which gives us a "leg up" on our competition because theatre performance is a combination of verbal as well as non-verbal mime, body language and gesturing. We pride ourselves at designing residencies that fit the creative needs of our host schools. In a recent Language Arts residency, fourth and fifth grade students created a written story that was transformed into a script and then video-taped using the students as actors. In another two week residency, Kindergarten students learned and performed several short fables as well as songs in Sign Language. We have the ability to work with hearing and Deaf students of all ages within the same classroom. This promotes awareness and demonstrates the value of cultural diversity.

This year SignStage will be giving full-year elementary school residencies as well as many multi-day residencies along with many two day and one day workshops. Our Deaf Awareness Assembly program is performed for grade schools, high schools, colleges and civic organizations in Ohio as well as several other states. We teach theatre vocabulary and the fundamentals of theatre by having the students participate in short theatrical skits or scenes. We are interested in creating a rehearsal atmosphere where ALL students learn the importance of teamwork. By creating together and performing together students learn that the group is more important than the individual.

Currently, William Morgan holds the position of Artistic Manager at CHSC (The Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center) where he controls the day to day activities of SignStage. He has more than 30 years experience at producing theatre ranging from simple one-acts to huge outdoor productions with more than 300 actors complete with live horses in Civil War reenactments that include gun and cannon fire. He also starred as "The Kidd" in a PBS mini series titled "KC and The Kidd." He has served as a panelist for the OAC Artist in Residence grant review committee and was a member of the Art is Education curriculum committee for the Cleveland Municipal School District, sponsored by the Ford Foundation. Bill is the owner/artistic director/producer of Sign Stage on Tour, a Deaf Theatre company that specializes in creating Deaf Theatre adaptations of mainstream stories. In a deaf theatre script, several characters are re-written into Deaf characters. This adds a layer of conflict that can't be found in the original story. In 2001, Bill co-wrote a Deaf Theatre adaptation of Snow White that was the only children's theatre performance accepted at DeafWay II, a world festival for Deaf artists in Washington DC. In 2013, Snow White will be produced by the Theatre of Expression and Gesture in Moscow, Russia.