AUTOCORRECT THINKS I'M DEAD Comes to Seattle Next Month

This Fall, a double rarity – horror comedy packed into a Deaf-centric script – will perform as a fully-captioned, accessible piece for all Seattle audiences. Sound Theatre is thrilled to present the world premiere of AUTOCORRECT THINKS I’M DEAD by Deaf playwright Aimee Chou. Howie Seago will direct.

Told in American Sign Language and spoken English, the production features Deaf actors Brittany Rupik (BRITTANY), Kai Winchester (CALVIN), Phelan Conheady (MERLIN) in principal roles. Jessica Kiely, Talasi Haynes, and Van Lang Pham comprise multiple Ensemble parts.

The fully-captioned play chronicles three Salem, MA Deaf roommates who get more than they bargained for when mysterious messages from Alexander Graham Bell begin appearing on an antique teletypewriter phone (TTY). An obsessive search for the truth of the afterlife challenges audiences to examine the ways we bridge our worlds today.

Deaf representation: beyond the stage

“I was so seduced by the play’s title alone,” director Howie Seago described taking on the project. “I knew the playwright’s brilliant mind, humor, perspectives, and creativity would create a totally unique play with fully-dimensional Deaf characters who are not depicted as just being ‘lost,’ ‘pitiful,’ ‘dumb,’ or even overly heroic."

Long a champion of authentic casting, Sound Theatre’s premiere also stacks a groundbreaking team behind the scenes: Lighting Design (*Annie Wiegand), Costume Design (Doris Black), Scenic Design (*Ethan Sinnott), Graphic Design (Mia Millings), Props Manager (Mia Millings), Stage Management (Jake Merz), Playwright (Aimee Chou), and Director (Howie Seago) all identify as either Deaf or hard of hearing.

Visiting artists Sinnott and Wiegand, respectively, are known as the nation’s only culturally Deaf and ASL-fluent professional scenic and lighting designer. AUTOCORRECT THINKS I’M DEAD will be their first collaboration on a professional theatrical production.

Defying tropes

AUTOCORRECT THINKS I’M DEAD takes on a genre already known for challenging culture and subverting expectations: “This isn’t your typical horror flick,” said Chou. “Creepy phone calls drive countless film and TV plots – but until now, never from a Deaf lens. This play also tackles a zeitgeist: AI’s poised to take over an entire entertainment industry, but it still can’t seem to spell the word ‘deaf’ on smartphones and speech-to-text apps.”

The set features a real Teletype Model 15 on loan from The Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) program operated by the state’s Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH). It is believed to be one of the 200,000 units made between 1930 and 1963.

Horror has the lowest Deaf representation across genres, according to a 2022 research paper by National Research Group and Deaf West Theatre, with Deaf communities “systematically excluded” from more fantastical and otherworldly content.

"Our world deserves more Deaf playwrights and I am hard pressed to think of a more important objective within our small corner of the theater industry," wrote David Kurs, Artistic Director of Deaf West Theatre, in a written statement of support towards Sound Theatre's premiere of AUTOCORRECT THINKS I’M DEAD.

A Play For All Audiences

Originally commissioned for a 2020 California State College Northridge staged reading, Chou’s play was featured March 2022 in Slow Cooker Unleashed: PNW Lore, a Pork Filled Production and Cafe Nordo staged reading program.

“Aimee frames lived experiences in a familiar world rooted in popular culture, while highlighting Deaf Culture’s charm, wit, and wisdom,” said Sound Theatre co-artistic director Teresa Thuman.

World premieres of full-length plays by Deaf playwrights remain rare. In Seattle, that includes Deaf Spotlight’s 2017 production of SKIN by Crystal L.M. Roberts, and, according to documentation by Seattle playwright Robert Roth, productions such as LANGUAGE OF LOVE (co-written by Lewis Merkin and Drew Emery).

 

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