The thirty-four year legacy of TerpTheatre spans hundreds of productions involving more than twenty Michigan-based interpreters, Deaf actors, and student interns. Through innovative partnerships with local professional, university, community-based, and school theatre groups, TerpTheatre has helped to promote shadowed interpreting on stage, and to define and disseminate techniques for on-stage interpreting.
“TerpTheatre” was originally a website designed to answer questions about theatre interpreting, and to promote a list of interpreted performances throughout the U.S. Since its first posts in 1998 (hand-coded HTML, thank-you-very-much), terptheatre.org has been a consistent online source of information for Deaf theatre patrons, interpreters, theatre professionals, students, and the media. As a home for theatre-minded interpreters, TerpTheatre has been a key source of development for theatre interpreters in Michigan (and beyond), and our alumni continue to spread excellence in their on and off-stage work.
Together, TerpTheatre’s alumni have amassed an impressive production history on stages throughout Michigan. Working with Oakland University, TerpTheatre’s interpreters have been recognized with a special honor by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for integration of shadow interpreting into OU’s production of The Trojan Women. Shadowing has been the primary focus of the work of TerpTheatre since co-founder, Dan McDougall first worked with Wild Swan Theatre in 1986.
In 2012, TerpTheatre and Oakland University produced the Michigan premiere of Police : Deaf : : Near : Far, a play by David Rush. The production featured two professional Deaf actors — Daniel Durant and Garrett Zuercher — and garnered universally positive reviews throughout the sold-out run. [More about PDNF HERE …]
TerpTheatre continues to be a source of information and education about theatre interpreting. Through hands-on, customized workshops, we help interpreters and theaters across the country improve their integration of interpreters on stage. TerpTheatre founder, Danny McDougall, PhD, now conducts research focusing on interpreters on stage, and the impact of space on meaning in interpreted performances.