From the story "Little Red Riding Hood"
Adaptation
by Scott Mather
(Available for nonprofit use)
Used with permission: Lifeprint.com
Audience: Deaf adults
Characters stand in order from
stage left to right GRANDMA, WOLF, RH
Intro:
RH: YOU-ALL REMEMBER STORY
NAME LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD?
WOLF: STORY REALLY ABOUT (nodding yes) DEAF GIRL.
GRANDMA: TODAY WE TELL YOU (nodding yes) REAL STORY.
Introduce characters:
RH: MY NAME LITTLE RED
RIDING HOOD. NAME SIGN RH (with a twist down low on right)
I DEAF. KNOW ASL. ALSO ORAL SCHOOL
I GO fsh, #SO CAN VOICE I.
MY MOTHER HEARING, KNOW ASL.
WE LIVE BIG HOUSE IN FOREST.
GRANDMA: I GRANDMA I. HEARING I. LEARNING ASL. SMALL HOUSE HAVE.
PLACE ONE M-I-L-E FROM RH HOUSE.
RH: MY big-HOUSE HERE
(cluster hand, glance), GRANDMAS little-HOUSE HERE. (Grandma
nods yes) (LLR shows curved path from one house to the other.) TWO
(backhand) ROOM++ point; KITCHEN, BEDROOM. GRANDMA LIVE WITH GRANDPA (ix: to
right). HEARING ix:HE. ASL LEARNING ix:HE same-as GRANDMA. OFTEN HUNT ix:HE.
WOLF: WOLF I. HAVE BIG EARS, BIG EYES, LONG SHARP TEETH. HEAR
GOOD, SEE VERY GOOD, SMELL VERY VERY (hand goes way up) GOOD! ASL DONT KNOW,
NOT NEED! IN FOREST I LIVE. ALWAYS HUNGRY I. (Looks threateningly at LLR &
GRANDMA. (LLR & GRANDMA shrink back from
wolf in reaction)
Open story:
RH: ONCE UPON A TIME (hour
with T-Hand) FOOD MY MOTHER (point) ASK-TO-ME DELIVER GRANDMA. SHE TELL-ME
(eyes looking down, body shift to left) BE-CAREFUL. WOLF YOU LOOK-around-for.
NOW GO. SOON BECOME DARK.
RH: (Bodyshift to left, look
up to right) OK. I BE-CAREFUL. NOW LEAVE. (outlines basket, picks up in left
hand, sets off, swinging basket for fun.)
WOLF: sees RH, creeps close, opens mouth, and gets hit by the
picnic basket she is swinging. Silently roars in pain, pulls out and throws
away a broken tooth. Thinks... WHERE RH GO-GO? ...WONDER... I KNOW! - GRANDMA
HOUSE!..... OK (nodding confidently) FIRST GRANDMA I EAT. NEXT RH I EAT
(smiles) FOR DESSERT! (Silent roar. Walk with arms, slowly picking up speed and
switching to both sets of fingers to show running...)
GRANDMA:
(acts startled when she hears this last
roar) NOISE-Whq? .....I KNOW - WOLF! I HIDE I IN KITCHEN BEHIND DOOR. (peeks
out through crack in door hands and stays in that position)
WOLF: (tongue hanging out, breathing hard, opens door, shuts
behind him) NOBODY HERE. GRANDMA WHERE? (looks around, then puts hand to ear as
he hears something) FOOTSTEPS COME! QUICK IN BED! (closes eyes, then opens one
and looks around, while continuing to hold sign for BED)
RH: (comes up to door swinging
picnic basket. Sets it down.) WOW, DARK BECOME FAST! (Turns doorknob and pushes
door open just a crack and looks in.) To audience: STRANGE. GRANDMA IN
BED? NOT REMEMBER ix:SHE SO UGLY (looks back in room) To audience: WAIT! I NOT
STUPID! ix:THAT NOT GRANDMA. ix:THAT WOLF ix:THAT. (Next, does double-take when
sees Grandma peering out of crack behind kitchen door)
GRANDMA: HELP! (after signing help, goes back to peering out from
crack in door hands)
RH: I-UNDERSTAND. (to
audience) IDEA! Pushes door open, mouths to the wolf: "Grandma! What
big eyes you have!" ...simultaneously opens eyes wide and signs
GRANDPA WHERE during eyes you have, toward Grandma.
WOLF: Comes out of sleeping position and says sweetly, head to one
side, nodding, batting eyes, mouths and signs words at same time: BETTER SEE
YOU WITH! Goes back into sleeping position...
GRANDMA: (answering RH) OUTSIDE HUNTING (repeats until LLR looks,
then goes back to peering our from behind door)
RH: Mouths to the wolf: "Grandma,
what big ears you have!" ...while simultaneously signing FLASH LIGHTS
FLASH LIGHTS during the word ears, toward Grandma.
WOLF: Comes out of sleeping position, sweetly mouths and signs
words at same time: BETTER HEAR YOU WITH! then smiles big, showing teeth and
batting eyes a few times. Holds teeth position...
GRANDMA: closes door,
turns to one side, holds right modified X hand low and left modified O hand
high. X hand flips light switch up as O hand opens to a 5 hand showing
the light coming on. Reverse to shut off. Repeats 10 times.
RH: Notices the wolfs
teeth, and fearfully, really meaning it this time, mouths and signs to
wolf: "Grandma, what big teeth you have!"
WOLF: Smile turns to a scowl, comes out of sleeping position and
threateningly mouths and signs: BETTER EAT YOU WITH!
RH: To audience: SCARED, I! BUT
SUDDENLY (look back over shoulder) STEPS I FEEL VIBRATION (start pounding with
fists.) I YELL WOLF! WOLF! ....I (Cl:2) drop-to-the FLOOR. GRANDPA open door,
SHOOTS (wolf reacts) WOLF DEAD. (Wolf drops his head and lets tongue hang out exactly when
RH signs dead)
WE SAVED! (Grandma
applauds.)
Everyone comes back out of
character except the wolf. Wolf stays dead, watches RH
out of corner of his eye for his cue.
Closing remarks:
GRANDMA: (beaming) FROM STORY WE LEARN TWO THINGS:
RH: (aggressively, in
triumph) FIRST, DEAF CAN DO IT - ALL BUT HEAR.
WOLF: (looks up ruefully) SECOND, ASL (nodding head) EVERYONE
SHOULD LEARN!
All sign FINISH together, and bow
together....