Wisconsin School for the Deaf - The Wisconsin Times Vol. 133 No. 4 Summer 2012 | Page 15

Playing Seriously
Deaf playwright, Willy Conley wrote
Playing Seriously. He is a playwright, an
actor on both stage and screen, and holds
a degree in biomedical photographic
communication. This play can be found
in his works titled, Vignettes of the Deaf
Character and Other Plays.
The main idea is a comedic dramatization
of a group of Deaf high school students who
are bored in a backyard and decide to make
up an impromptu play performance. They
struggle at first to find the correct meaning
of the word ‘play’. By the end, they create
a short play with many references to Deaf
Culture. Playing Seriously is intended for
audiences of all ages.
Only six students were needed to round
out the cast of characters which included
Queen Bee Anna McCartney, Big Cheese
Mitchell Perry, Sweet Corn Lyssa Matsche,
Mighty Mouse Ka Youa Xiong, Watercolor
Chandre Kimble and Blue J Taylor Koss. In
addition, the stage crew consisted of Lennon
Morrissey and Anthony Lange and was
directed by teacher Christopher Woodfill and
assisted by teacher Amber Havers.
The cast and crew were asked which of the
characters had the best costume. Garnishing
the most votes was Queen Bee Anna. All
wore a black turtle neck with a picture of
their character on the front and name on
the back. However, Queen Bee also wore a
crown with antennae, a purple stinger and a
bee-like skirt. Asked which other character
they would like to play if WSD were to do an
encore performance, they all replied that they
would want to play the same character again.
What was their favorite memory? Many, the
prank pulled by one of the cast members,
the chase scene through the audience, and
watching the audience laugh and enjoy the
performance. In addition, one cast member
said, “Every moment was special, but my
favorite was performing for WSD and us
lining up after the show. We had all worked
so hard to get to this point; it was amazing to
be congratulated by the entire student body.”
Summer 2012 - 15