'TRASH' hits the CoMMA stage next week

Forget airing out dirty laundry, it’s time to take out the “TRASH.”

Directed by Kimberly “Kee” Lee, this deaf-centric comedy brings gut-busting laughs to the CoMMA Performing Arts Center next week, playing Nov. 13-15 at 7 p.m.

Actor Karen Gabriel said, “It’s funny. It’s off-the-wall funny.” The mature-audience play pulled laughs from the crew during rehearsal on Tuesday — one of the last before they take the main stage.

This is Lee’s third year collaborating with producer Derek Long on a production. Long previously produced “A Wolf’s Mother” and “All the Oxytocin in Your Fingertips” at the CoMMA — both heavily featuring deaf actors and ASL translators for speaking roles.

“They came to me last year to see if I would be interested in producing [‘TRASH’],” Long said. “Of course, I am interested because it was written by two deaf playwrights and they should have a say in what should be staged, in my opinion.”

After developing a working relationship over the last couple of years, Lee approached Long about putting on “TRASH.” Lee first saw the play at Gallaudet University, the world’s only university designed for deaf and hard hearing students located in Washington, D.C.

While the play’s first showing was at Gallaudet, playwrights James Caverly and Andrew Morrill plan to take it to larger stages in New York following their respective Broadway successes, according to a September Gallaudet News article.

Morganton’s version is technically a workshop, but the actors and director are pouring their hearts into it.

“This show really fits deaf life and really exemplifies deaf people and how we live and how there’s different approaches to things — barriers, the struggles that we go through,” Lee said. “I’m actually afraid to say too much because I want people to come and see this play and be able to experience it.”

Although the play is performed by a mostly deaf cast, there is an interpreter for hearing viewers. However, the play riffs on the universal experience of deaf audiences, only audibly translating specific sections, requiring hearing people to piece situations together as a deaf audience would at a hearing-centric play.

Gabriel, who plays the hearing Carly in the play, viewed “TRASH” as an exciting change-up to her usual comforts.

“They were looking for a person to play the role of Carly,” she said. “So, I read the script. Deaf people have limited opportunities to play in theater, you know. At first, I was thinking that I wasn’t going to do it, but I really want to be able to support Alder Springs.”

The “TRASH” crew plans to donate the proceeds from ticket sales to Alder Springs Deaf & Blind Community, a nonprofit independent-living community that provides apartments and opportunities for deaf and blind residents in Morganton.

“I’m very involved in the Alder Springs Community and supporting them,” Gabriel said. “I envision that eventually, when I get older, that I might live there. So, I thought this was a great way to support them as well.”

Gabriel explained that Alder Springs ensures accessibility first and foremost. Through rent payments, donations, and grants, the nonprofit plans to develop more buildings and continue providing a deaf-friendly space.

“TRASH” aims to create the same type of community, but through entertainment. Actor Jason Tuck, who plays Jake in “TRASH,” also works at the North Carolina School for the Deaf, and he sees the impact on kids firsthand.

“The kids have something to look up to,” Tuck said. “They have opportunities to be a deaf actor, even if it’s just community theater … That connection has motivated me and seeing the opportunities of kids saying, ‘Oh, you’re in a show? I can be in a show?’

Though Tuck has conflicting feelings about the viewpoints of his character, he’s excited to explore new avenues of expression, joking that the cultural differences are sometimes apparent in the play.

“From the deaf aspect, there’s definitely some things I relate to — like the stomping on the floor,” Tuck said. “I’m deaf and my family is all deaf. We grew up stomping on the floor to get each other’s attention from the vibration … When we would go to visit hearing family members, I would go to stomp on the floor and my mom would be like, ‘No, stop. You’ve got to be quiet. There are hearing people here!’ So, I do have that connection with my character.”

Aside from the hilarity of the play, the resonance seems to ripple out from the performances, impacting Morganton residents and the deaf community alike.

Long said, “There’s something I keep going back to — that the first year we did [a deaf-centric] production where a deaf audience member said they could finally see the play. They don’t have to look at an interpreter in the corner of the room to actually see a play going on … It’s really gratifying to know that we’re filling a niche for this community here.”

Tickets can be purchased at the CoMMA Performing Arts Center in person or online at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36112/production/1253553.