JONESBOROUGH REPERTORY THEATRE

Performances Thursday thru Saturday, August 6, 7, 8 at 7 p.m. Thursday thru Saturday, August 13, 14, 15 at 7 p.m. Sunday August 9 and 16 at 2 p.m. Interpreted for the Deaf the second weekend only

The Baseball Adventures of a Shoemaker from Ohio at JRT

Jonesborough Repertory theatre presents The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy by Allen Meyer and Michael Nowak. While The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy is fictional, the main character is not. William Ellsworth (Dummy) Hoy played professional baseball at the turn of the 20^th century. What was so unique about Dummy was that he was Deaf.  Hoy is responsible for the hand signals used in baseball today. The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy tells about Dummy’s first season in the minor leagues. This comedy consists of rough and rowdy baseball players who like to joke around with each other, a seasoned umpire, and a young female news paper reporter trying to make it in a “man’s world.” Through the humor and some confrontational outbursts on stage, the audience will enjoy a story about relationships and the art of communication. Dummy must confront characters in the story who are dealing with their own misconceptions and attitudes about those who are different. He must also confront himself and his attitude about his own abilities.

Front row L to R - Josh O'Bryan, Michael Armstrong, Jaime Herman, Ben Bolt
Back row L to R - Ryan Miller, Brad Smith, Andrew Nichols, John Radford,
Daniel Harr, Jake Jessup, Emily Carmichael

Led by Co-Directors Pamela Adolphi and Angus Walton, this baseball adventure brings a new swing to JRT. “Directing Dummy Hoy has been a wonderful new experience for me,” says Walton. “I have been involved with theatre for many years, but this is the first time I have found myself directing a hearing-impaired actor. Initially, I suppose, I tended to treat him differently from the speaking members of the cast, before realizing that he needed to be handled just like the other cast members. Those of us with all our faculties tend to look at individuals with impairments differently, which is a mistake.”

The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy is set in the 1880's. The play depicts the struggles of a deaf man, Dummy Hoy - to find himself and his purpose in life. In doing so he impacts the lives of his teammates, and changes baseball forever. The interaction between Dummy, the rest of the team, their coach and the umpire results in many funny moments as they all try to figure out how to best use the talents of their deaf teammate.

“The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy will give the hearing audience an opportunity to get some sense of the problems that the hearing impaired face every day,” explains Walton. “It has been a privilege, if at times a difficult one, to direct this play, but I am honored to have done it.”

The cast of actors all have great enthusiasm in playing ball on stage and telling Dummy’s story. Some of the cast are just getting started in pursuing their acting careers in college, some want to make a career in acting. The cast includes Michael Armstrong as William Ellsworth (Dummy) Hoy, Patty Harmon as Speaker Hoy, Ben Bolt as D.S., Daniel Harr as F.G. Selee, Josh O’Bryan as Tommy, Jake Jessup as Woodrow, John Radford as Charles and Dooley, Brad Smith as Tyler and Buzz, Janette Johnson as Mutt, Jaime Herman as Press, Emily Carmichael as Katy and A.C., Andrew Nichols as Dave, Crystal Piver as the Producer, and Jim Reid as Judge.

The crew members include another great team of players: Shelby Edwards as Stage Manager/Sign Language Support and Crystal Piver as the Assistant Stage Manager. Pamela Adolphi is the Lighting Designer. Gabby Wexler is the Light Board Operator. Janette Gaines is the Sound Designer and Production Assistant. Ryan Miller is running the Sound Board. Patty Harmon is the production’s Communication Assistant. Shirley Stelzer is the Costumer. Tausha Webb assisted with Poster Design. Mike Schmidt is in charge of set construction.