Dramatic touch
This Mountville man loves the theater despite not being able to see or hear. For him, EPAC’s ‘The Miracle Worker’ carries special meaning. Lancaster New EraPublished: Feb 09, 2009
10:07 EST
Source Link: LancasterOnline.com:News:Dramatic touch:
articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/233650By JANE HOLAHAN, Staff WriterAndy Stender loves the theater.
Andy Stender holds hands with his two interpreters - Joanne Reiley (left) and Tara Potterveld - durin...(more) 1 of 3
Stender communicates with Potterveld. 2 of 3
This Mountville man loves the theater despite not being able to see or hear. For him, EPAC's 'The Mira...(more) 3 of 3
He's gone to the last three shows at the Fulton and is planning to attend "The Miracle Worker" at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center on Thursday.
"I love being there, being a part of it," Stender explains.
The fact that he is deaf and blind does not lessen the pleasure for Stender, 45, who lives in Mountville.
With an interpreter by his side, signing into his hand, Stender is able to follow the action on stage.
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As he explained through interpreters Tara Potterveld and Joanne Reiley — who is herself deaf and Stender's girlfriend — his reasons are no different than anyone else's.
It's a fun night out and a chance to let his imagination take him into different worlds.
Since he goes to a performance that features interpreters for the deaf, he often runs into friends.
"There are deaf people who come from Philadelphia and it's great to see them," he says. "We'll go to the Prince Street Cafe across the street before the show and have a meal and catch up."
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His first date with Reiley was to go see "42nd Street" at the Fulton in December.
"He came out of the theater and said he had the best time," Reiley says. "He said he remembered old Fred Astaire movies."
And he could feel the vibration of all the tap dancing.
But going to the theater requires help.
Someone will sign the performance and then another interpreter signs into Stender's hand, a process called tactile signing.
Reiley says it can be tough over a long period of time.
"It wears you out — your hands and your shoulders," she says.
While it takes a little longer than regular signing, both Stender and Reiley communicate at a rapid pace.
Stender has a genetic disorder called Usher Syndrome, which caused him to be born profoundly deaf and to begin losing his eyesight when he was a boy. He became totally blind about eight years ago.
To help prepare for life without sight, Stender went to the Helen Keller Center on Long Island, N.Y., several times in the last 25 years.
"I did training there and I learned Braille. It's a great place because it teaches you independent living skills, job training," he says. "And best of all, it gave me computer training. I didn't want to be left behind."
Stender is especially interested in seeing "The Miracle Worker," which is the story of how a young Helen Keller, who, like Stender, was deaf and blind, learned to communicate with her teacher, Annie Sullivan.
"I am curious about it," Stender says. "I remember the movie with Patty Duke as Helen. The first sign she had was 'water.'"
There is actually not a lot of signing in "The Miracle Worker," according to its director, Matthew Good.
"Most of the signing is finger spelling. Because the entire audience has to see it, we had to make it more pronounced, sharper," he says. "But there are long passages with no dialogue, where it's all stage direction. That's been challenging for me."
Both Amy Hoke, who is playing Annie, and Lauren Elledge, who is playing Helen and at 9 is one of the youngest Helens to grace a local stage, know sign language, as do several others in the cast.
Good is thrilled that Stender is coming to see the play.
"I was very excited to hear that someone who has the same issues that Helen had is going to see the show," he said. "I think that's fascinating."
Until recently, Stender, who lives by himself, worked at the Susquehanna Association for the Blind.
"I got laid off," he says. "I'm getting by, but I'd rather be working. I like production printing, book binding, packing, stocking."
Stender wishes people wouldn't be so fearful about approaching him.
"Don't be afraid. I have ways of communicating. If you don't know how to sign, you can spell into my hand. And I can write," he says. "It's like meeting someone who speaks Spanish. You can interpret. It's the same thing with me."
He is not one to sit back and let life pass him by.
He and Reiley, who first met when they were attending the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, got reacquainted when she served as his interpreter at a hearing in Harrisburg about appropriate housing for deaf and blind seniors who have to go into retirement communities.
"It's nice having Joanne in my life," he says. "I'm not so alone."
He likes sports, especially hiking and fishing.
"I'm good. I usually catch a fish, a pretty big one," he says, smiling, pulling his hands further and further apart. And he loves playing with his Braille Rubik's Cube, something he often does to pass time before a show.
Stender wishes people wouldn't think so negatively about the possibilities in his life.
"People who don't know anything about being deaf and blind think it's a deprived life," he says. "But I have a lot of joy in my life."
