Feature: American Players Theatre will cast a Deaf actor as Romeo in 2023

By Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times

Next season at American Players Theatre, Romeo and Juliet will have to overcome more than warring families. They will have a language barrier as well.

Romeo will be played by a Deaf actor using American Sign Language in the 2023 production of “Romeo and Juliet” in Spring Green. (The actor has been cast, but not contracted yet, so is not being named). This adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet” joins a season that also includes “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” an evening of three short comedies by Anton Chekhov, and Ives’ adaptation of a 1644 farce, “The Liar.”

“This is a growth season,” said artistic director Brenda DeVita, who has led the 43-year-old company since 2012. “We’re saying, ‘Let’s give people the opportunity to learn and grow with us.’

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