WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS TO A QUIET PLACE
Krasinski and his crew put a special emphasis on sound in A Quiet Place, working to capture the natural rush of waving corn stalks and the beat of strategic steps on soft earth. But the director plays with his audience as well, planting us in Regan’s perspective mere minutes into the film. As the family treks home from the pharmacy, the soundtrack drops out, leaving behind only a microphone hum, and we experience Regan’s hearing loss for ourselves. It is peaceful. We are reoriented to the visual cues surrounding her, to the attention she gives her parents, to the beauty of the rural landscape. But we also see a danger she did not anticipate, simply because it is happening behind her back.
I was very fortunate to stumble upon my very good friend, Nancy... we were in a classroom with other children who had similar disabilities as we did. Nancy had a heart defect along with a learning disability, and I was, and still am, visually impaired as well as having a hearing disability. Our friendship developed helping and supporting each other during school days. For example, when we went down the hall for different activities, she would guide me safely to and from our destination, and I would counsel her when she needed advice.
This production features both deaf and hearing actors, super titles for some more intricate exchanges, and interpreters as needed for audience members. The concept that Sawyer and Bauer have concocted involves more than just comprehension; they want to immerse every person in the history, culture and stigmas of deafness.
My teacher signed to my class, throughout the year, how accepting the deaf were of people outside of the deaf community and reminded us if the deaf participants signed too fast, at the events, to tell them to slow down and to inform them that we were beginning signers.
I can’t speak for the original, genteel Southern Kellers, but it was a privilege to keep house for century Kellers and as much of their languid estate that would fit in our pint-sized theater. My Kellers opened their home to scores of Minnesota arts enthusiasts, but mostly the pack of 21st shied away from hob-nobbing with the locals...
