a sign in the night

i volunteered at a reading during a playwrights week tonight. the reading tonight was about four people, and their exploration into language and interaction. the play used sanskrit, english and sign language as secondary characters... looking into how meaning is lost through translation. i don't know if i'm explaining it correctly, but it was very interesting, as one character said that he loved sanskrit as it was the root of most modern languages. the play's deaf character argued that sign language pre-dated sanskrit because it was based on gestures and non-verbal communication. it was an intriguing point, especially after another character said that she preferred sign language because it was very direct method of communication. she said because of it's nature, asl is forced to be very simple... with the burden of modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, phrases) falling to the gestures, facial expressions and movement of the body and face. i honestly never put much thought into it, but it was a fascinating thing to think about. because it wasn't a full production, it was a little difficult to envision the writer's final package, since it involved some multi-media aspects to convey the silent, asl conversations, but overall, a very thought-provoking piece.

ps: i think i had an arrested development sighting today... i think mama bluth or jessica walter as she is more commonly known was on my bus. it seemed somewhat unlikely, but she looked very much like her... it was fun though, i kept looking around for buster! :)