Equity News Magazine
A Conversation with Deaf Theatre Artist MoMo Holt
On November 18, Equity's Disability Community hosted a conversation over Zoom with artist Monique "MoMo" Holt about her journey as an actor, director, writer and ASL interpreter. Holt spoke in sign language, with an interpreter for attendees who do not sign, with Disability Community Co-Leader and Eastern Stage Manager Councilor Peter Royston.
Holt began by sharing her background, first getting a taste for performance signing the songs at church and seeing theatre as a child, then studying theatre at NYU and becoming an Equity performer in 1991.
Holt spoke about the ways that d/Deaf performers might navigate their art differently. For example, as a dancer, she found that it took her longer to pick up on the steps because she was not hearing the choreographer explain them concurrently with the demonstration. She emphasized the importance of using different learning styles as an instructor to make sure that everyone in the room can be included.
"I've noticed that students today are really different than in the past," she said. "In the past we had to just jump in, dive headfirst into the water and swim. But now you're able to do a little bit at a time… that's what we need: a space to feel safe and feel good about ourselves."
Holt explained her work as a DASL – a director of artistic sign language, which formerly might have been known as an ASL consultant or coach. A DASL provides guidance for an actor performing in ASL, giving them notes about clarity and artistic coherence. For example, ASL has a great deal of regional variation, and a DASL can ensure a performer is signing according to how their character likely would depending on their background.
While hiring specialized workers like translators is important, every member of a company can help make a workplace more accessible. Holt went on to talk about the important roles stage managers can play in including their peers with disabilities.
"'We'll add a light over here that's going to be your cue,'" Holt said they might say to her on the job. "And then they set up those cues for me, and it is so helpful, so I know when I'm ready to enter… We call this universal design."
The conversation then turned to how the theatrical landscape is changing for d/Deaf or hard of hearing actors.
"They're starting to understand that it's important to hire Deaf actors for signing roles. It's getting better," said Holt. "But they still don't think of the possibilities of hiring a Deaf actor for a non-signing role. Why not?"
She voiced other ongoing concerns, such as about how producers balk at the cost of hiring ASL interpreters. She insisted that they need to be better about including them in their budgets or coming up with creative ways to share the cost with other employers. Holt also noted that because of the language barrier, d/Deaf and hard of hearing people often find themselves separated from the rest of the disability community.
Holt spoke about accessibility backstage as well as on, noting that d/Deaf and hard of hearing designers are still underrepresented in the theatre.
She went on to discuss the importance of having access plans ready before rehearsals even start, from budgeting out a DASL and interpreter to educating hearing staff on some important ASL signs related to safety.
"The DASL would be hired way later," Holt often found, "And that was really frustrating for the Deaf actors… they have to rehearse outside of the rehearsal time – eating up their time, distracting them from their own character development, their own line memorization – to help the hearing actors."
She also expressed her frustration with tokenism:
"'This is a cool gimmick – we could have a person who signs!'" she imagined employers thinking. "But this story, the meaningfulness of the storytelling is diminished, and it's not an accurate representation. Sometimes we accept it because it pays my bills, but it's not meaningful work that we're making together."
The conversation turned to Equity's role in access in the workplace.
"I really support Actors' Equity, because they are so transparent," said Holt. "They have audition opportunities. They have a handbook with guidelines – that's really important. And [for] our rights as Deaf actors, our linguistic rights, Equity does a lot of good." She brought up as an example the networking event for Equity members to meet Off-Broadway employers that is negotiated into that agreement.
Holt also had suggestions for ways that Equity could improve in regards to d/Deaf and hard of hearing members, including requiring a DASL in union contracts, as well as amending the union's rules regarding the use of recorded performances when one is being used as ASL translation. In the meantime, she urged her fellow members to get more deeply involved in their union, to be able to connect with their peers as they navigate all of these issues.
"Often we don't realize that we do have these rights, and Equity also offers support," she said. "But often we don't realize what support that is, and we assume that they won't understand us. But it's important to first ask and find out."
Holt and Royston offered further resources to the group, from Equity's Members with a Disability Community to the new book Staging Deaf and Hearing Theatre Productions: A Practical Guide.
The event concluded with questions from attendees, including some on ways to get more involved with ASL theatre – Holt suggested, for example, the New York Deaf Theatre.
At the end of the event, Holt shared that she has many exciting projects in the works, including interpreting shows, mentoring other DASLs and writing a DASL handbook.