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For accessibility needs related to event registrations or room reservations, please reach out to the Center for Accessibility at 202-727-2142 or DCPLaccess@dc.gov. For general questions about reservations or event details, please contact the DC Public Library location you are planning to visit. |
Join us in celebration of Disability Pride Month for a conversation with award-winning photographer, writer, and theatre artist Willy Conley, who will share plays by Deaf and hard of hearing writers.
Willy Conley is an award-winning photographer, writer, and theatre artist. He is the editor of Plays of Our Own: An Anthology of Scripts by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Writers, and the author of The World of White Water: Poems, Visual-Gestural Communication: A Workbook in Nonverbal Expression and Reception, Listening through the Bone: Collected Poems, The Deaf Heart: A Novel, Vignettes of the Deaf Character and Other Plays, and Broken Spokes. Conley is a retired professor and former chairperson of Theatre Arts at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.
During his presentation he will read from his two recently published works: Plays of Our Own: An Anthology of Scripts by Deaf and Hard -of-Hearing Writers and Photographic Memories – Selected Essays, Playlets, and Stories. The audience will have a chance to ask questions at the end of the program and copes of his books will be available for sale.
*The program will be in American Sign Language (ASL) with voice interpretation and CART (real-time captioning). For other reasonable accommodation, contact the Center for Accessibility at DCPLaccess@dc.gov or 202-727-2142.
About the works:
Plays of Our Own is the first anthology of its kind containing an eclectic range of plays by Deaf and hard-of-hearing writers. These writers have made major, positive contributions to world drama or Deaf theatre arts.
Their topics range from those completely unrelated to deafness to those with strong Deaf-related themes such as a dreamy, headstrong girl surviving a male-dominated world in Depression-era Ireland; a famous Spanish artist losing his hearing while creating his most controversial art; a Deaf African-American woman dealing with AIDS in her family; and a Deaf peddler ridiculed and rejected by his own kind for selling ABC fingerspelling cards. The plays are varied in style - a Kabuki western, an ensemble-created variety show, a visual-gestural play with no spoken nor signed language, a cartoon tragicomedy, historical and domestic dramas, and a situation comedy. This volume contains the well-known Deaf theatre classics, My Third Eye and A Play of Our Own.
At long last, directors, producers, Deaf and hearing students, professors, and researchers will be able to pick up a book of "Deaf plays" for production consideration, Deaf culture or multicultural analysis, or the simple pleasure of reading.
Photographic Memories is an anthology of essays, playlets, and short fiction by writer and photographer Willy Conley. The pieces in this collection are grounded in Deaf experiences, a hallmark of Conley's work. Written from the unique perspective of a Deaf artist who navigates between the Deaf and hearing worlds, Conley depicts a variety of topics, settings, and characters: a day in the life of a traveling Deaf theater company, a nail salon, a baseball player trying to go pro. Conley also addresses critical issues at the heart of his Deaf identity, such as creating professional opportunities for Deaf theater artists, the need for better standards in sign language interpreting, and ableism.
Original photographs taken by the author accompany his writings and invite the reader to contemplate the often-blurred lines between reality and memory.
AGE GROUP: | Seniors | Adults | 13 - 19 Years Old (Teens) |
EVENT TYPE: | Center for Accessibility | Author Talk |
