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'Winnie the Pooh' comes with a sign By Amber Fossen Ashland Daily Tidings A Southern Oregon University performance of "Winnie the Pooh" came with a twist - or rather, a sign. Students from Bellview and Helman Elementary Schools attended Winnie the Pooh Thursday afternoon with 33 children from the Southern Oregon Education Service District hearing impaired program based at Griffin Creek Elementary in Jacksonville. While theater is in part a voiced performance, deaf students didn't miss a theatrical beat with the help of Dottie Rundles, an interpreter who became part of the play. "It's way better for the deaf audience members to have the interpreter blocked in," Rundles said. "Particularly with a children's theater, the closer you are to the action the better. Children will always choose the action. They need to see so they'll choose the visual." Rundles, a Portland resident, said she received the script several months ago to begin working on how to interpret the material. "There's points in the play where timing is important particularly with humor," Rundles said, noting she had to figure out a way to sign a part in Winnie the Pooh where a play on words occurred. According to Ed Battistella, SOU's dean of arts and letters, this is the first time the university has been able to provide theater to young students. "It's part of our outreach effort to reach area schools," Battistella said. As students filled the Center Square Theater in the SOU Theater Arts Building, Rundles signed the character names to the audience for students to become familiar with. Once the production began, Rundles moved about the stage signing each part without taking away from the action on stage. "They've come to see the actors and I want them to be able to see as much as possible," Rundles said. "Deaf kids are like any other kids, they want to be able to go out and play and see theater. It's great when the community provides them an opportunity to do so." According to Al Gemmell, an ESD interpreter, the hearing impaired program takes advantage of opportunities where available. "We try to get them (the students) all together at least once a year," Gemmell said. "The program actually serves six counties." Among the Pooh fans were identical twin brothers Brian and Robert Pope, sixth grade students in the ESD hearing impaired program. "This was the first time I've seen a play since I was four," Brian signed, recalling when he attended a play performed by all deaf actors. This was his first real interpreted performance. Fellow hearing impaired student Tamara Clement said she's actually been in a play herself and enjoyed the Pooh performance with one exception. "I'm lost because Tigger wasn't there," she said. Before the cast exited the stage, Anja Harriss, a third-grade Helman student, gave kudos to the performers. "I really enjoyed the play and I liked how you did it with a lot of expression," Harriss said. Julie Gurwell, SOU box office manager, said Winnie the Pooh will be performed for blind children today. "We normally don't do anything during the daytime," Gurwell said, noting the Pooh performance is the first time the theater has put on a children's production. "It's a perfect opportunity to have an interpreter and an audio describer." Gurwell said Ashland resident Herman Edel will describe the set and performers to 16 students from the ESD visual impaired program while sitting in the theater's booth. "He (Edel) will describe the show to the blind kids who will have an FM headset receiver. In between the dialogue of the show, he'll insert descriptions," Gurwell said. This will allow visually impaired students to enjoy the performance alongside students from Ashland Middle School and Jerome Prairie Elementary in Grants Pass. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -