Date of Award
Spring 5-17-2019
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Ethan Sinnott
Second Advisor
Monique Holt
Abstract
As an homage to the musical RENT, I wrote and directed an original play entitled Baggage, a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, that was produced for the Gallaudet University Theatre Department’s spring 2019 production. Baggage follows three Deaf teenagers, Michaela, Gage, and Isabel, who connect through the music of RENT, as they find themselves entangled which ultimately ends in a falling out. The play also shows the experience of growing up in a hearing family as Michaela, Gage, and Isabel face frustration, underestimation, and neglect in their families. To spotlight the multifaceted ways of experiencing deafness, three songs from RENT were incorporated to combat the mistaken assumption that a love of music minimizes one’s Deaf identity. Baggage also addressed sexuality and gender identity, with Gage and Isabel coming out to their parents as transgender and lesbian, making it the first play in Gallaudet theatre history to do so. Inspired by Post-colonialism and the three stages of marginalized writing, the play strives to move Deaf theatre into new territory where deafness is not the main source of conflict but instead an aspect of life, along with other universal experiences such as infatuation, heartbreak, and identity crises. Ultimately, the play has a central message of learning from and living with one’s mistakes, but most importantly to embrace the different aspects of one’s identity.
Recommended Citation
Sereda, Nikolya, "Baggage: An Original Script and Production Furthering the Evolution of Deaf Theatre" (2019). Undergraduate University Honors Capstones. 67.
https://ida.gallaudet.edu/honors_capstones/67
