Sign Language Interpreting

Inspired by Ashley Fontes

Keith Wann was born in Jan 4, 1969 in San Jose, CA. He has two deaf parents and no siblings, but because they lived in an apartment complex occupied mostly with Deaf families he grew up with many others like him and his family, which shaped how he viewed the world. As a kid he played soccer, went to Deaf church, and remembers having to fax people. TTY’s were not used often in the complex. Faxing was faster and easier. 

Now he is married to Emilia Lorenti-Wann and has two children, Douglas and Marisol. His wife is also a sign language interpreter and a native Spanish speaker from Uruguayan descent. 

Keith had no idea sign language was a career choice growing up, as the interpreters he knew were either other codas like him or church volunteers. His first job was pumping, gas, cleaning houseboats, and working at a chain restaurant.  After the Americans with Disability Act was signed into law July 26, 1990, one of his friends came into his restaurant and asked him to interpret for him over at the local college. Keith asked what that meant, and his friend explained the concept. Keith stated “Oh, I’ve been doing that my whole life”.  Once Keith decided to start interpreting he wanted to fully support the Interpreting community. In 1992 he received the Quality Assurance California VR rating system.  Since then, he has acquired six additional certifications. They include in 1996 two from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. In 2006 he acquired the NIC: Master certification. In 2023 he took the EIPA, and in 2024 he took and passed the CoreCHI certification, as well as the BEI Master certification. When asked why he stated. “I want to support my industry and not to sit on my laurels. I take it to support my profession, and to show other CODA’s, to take the test, and show that you are still up to date.” 

Keith states that his experience and specialty is in mental health/medical, religion, and theatre. He has been actively interpreting in the mental health field since 1995. In 2007 he started to interpret for Broadway shows, 

and in 2014 he really began to interpret for Religion. 

When asked asked about his focuses he stated that the “bulk of my career has been in mental health, most people know me as an entertainer for 20 years, but behind the scenes I was interpreting for 30, keeping confidential and abiding by the standard code of ethics established by the field. I worked with a Deaf therapist that had hearing clients. I felt alive, I could really put on the person’s pain and anger. I didn’t like legal interpreting. It was too dry for me.” Church interpreting became a way for him to continue his journey to God. He never wanted to be one as they were historically, in his opinion, “the worst signers”. However one day a Deaf person showed up and there was no interpreter. So he stood up and started interpreting, providing access, a role he has done all his life. The preacher started to tell the story of Daniel in the Lion’s den, and it just came alive for him.  

His last area of specialty is theatre. While Keith loves to perform during his solo comedy shows,  he stated “performance interpreting for me is a challenge, it is not about me, but the character on the stage. I want to make sure I am throwing it back on stage, not the spotlight on me. 

It's the actor's moment, not mine. "

Keith advised other students who want to go into those areas to study the Diagnostic Statistical Manual that psychologists use and become familiar with it, to only interpret for religions they believe in, and to take acting classes. “It helps if you understand the process the actors are going through.” 

Along with his interpreting career Keith also has become a favorite on Youtube, and has many ASL comedy shows that he travels around the US. In all of his shows he only uses ASL, when asked why he doesn’t voice his show but has a voice interpreter, he informs them that “I want it to be first accessible to my parents and then we can find accommodations for you”.

Keith has impacted the Deaf community in many ways. As a solo performer and owner of a Youtube channel he has highlighted Deaf culture and won one of the early awards from Youtube for a million views. He has collaborated with both hearing and Deaf performers to increase the accessibility of ASL to children. Two of these projects include the ASL learning site “SignIt ASL” and Signed Stories. He has also been credited as one of the co-author of the book “Our Stories: the Soul of Sign Language Interpreting”, along with other written article contributions to newsletters.

As a well-known Broadway Interpreter Keith was asked to step in for a single Broadway show, something that he was called to do often since his role with the organization was as an interpreter/trainer for new interpreters, including new BIPOC interpreters since 2007. The show was “The Lion King”, to be performed in April of 2022, with a month to prepare. Industry standard is 4 months preparation time, with several table discussions with the team, then viewing the show 2 times as an audience member to capture the moment to identify when to throw it back to the stage for action, and one more going hands up in the back of the theater with the DASL’s feedback afterwards. This request would only be a single performance as two of the original three BIPOC interpreters were unable to work, and Keith had done this show several times before so could slip into the role easily. 

Shortly after the Organization that asked him to interpret sent him an email stating that due to the fact he was white, even though he was qualified, experienced, and one of the trainers, they would like to have someone else interpret, as he did not “match the cultural and physical representation on stage.”  This came from a new Director of ASL who was also a white female (the Deaf BIPOC DASL was added later, as email correspondences show in the investigation) After going back and forth with the organization regarding the email, and then being asked to interpret Lion King again a few months later when another BIPOC interpreter was unable to with only a week’s notice, along with being asked to help and be a part of Wicked during the same timeline with other BIPOC interpreters, Keith decided to sue for discrimination. In November 2022 he made international news. https://nypost.com/2022/11/12/lion-king-sign-language-interpreter-keith-wann-says-he-was-fired-for-being-white/

The Deaf response was explosive. Both against, and in support of him. Some used it to address issues in the interpreting field locally and as a whole, and others used it to tear down while elevating themselves in an opportunistic manner. 

Wann's lawsuit received a lot of media coverage and some interpreters felt uncomfortable about this. Some claimed that as an interpreter he should know and understand that he was not the right person for that role as the cast has been POC for years, but ignoring or not knowing his established role with the organization since 2007, having already done this particular production, and assuming he was just called by a random agency, as most freelance interpreters are, to do work and accepted because he wanted money and the spotlight without knowing what the job needed. It was misinterpreted by many that said 'Keith thinks it doesn’t matter black or white and wanted to keep the job'. His position was “you can’t say this in the email or even behind closed doors, it doesn’t matter black or white, if you see this you must speak up, along with age, religion, etc. I moved forward to get policy changes and opportunity for all including BIPOC interpreters."

"Behind social media some attacked my wife, and I don’t blame her for posting in the beginning when her emotions were raw, she saw the lies coming in, the ‘friend’ using the opportunity to attack to elevate themselves, and wanted to get all the correct information out there." Then she started to see the love and support and realized those who knew were the ones that mattered, not strangers behind a camera looking for hits.

"The support I received was overwhelming and full of love, from my friends and people I worked with throughout the years, from well-known tv and stage actors, people in the acting and interpreting industry, including many other interpreters who also experienced this, to the people who knew me off the stage, to the people who took the time to call and say ‘hey what’s going on’, Wann shared.

Around two weeks after the news storm Keith and TDF settled the lawsuit. 

When interviewed Keith stated that the whole story was never out there, once the attacks started he just said this was between two businesses and a policy change. His focus was never about the money or spotlight, but rather addressing the known history of discrimination in the industry. Working with other BIPOC interpreters in other theater circles nationwide including several theme park destinations with daily Broadway shows, and noticing his certified and tri-lingual interpreter wife only got called to interpret for West Side Story and Gloria Stefan, as she is Latina, even though she is qualified to do any production, but the organization would use the same pool of interpreters over and over again with little diversity.  Many in the local community complained but nothing changed for years. Keith was excited to push and be a part of the change with others championing for adding BIPOC interpreters, including coda and non-certified interpreters, to the list around 2017. "I would continue to recommend other BIPOC interpreters to their list, including some who did interpreting part-time while their other occupations included being a mental health therapist, a law enforcement officer, and a dancer."

He stated that “It was the fact that it was in writing for all to see the culture already there, meanwhile they were inviting me to do other jobs that would also require BIPOC interpreters. As someone who has been involved in this industry for many years, I have a history of recommending BIPOC interpreters and sharing my experience to help add to the theater roster.  I have never fought for myself to take space in any majority black production, nor have I ignored the need to amplify BIPOC interpreters. I support Deaf, Deaf-BIPOC, and BIPOC performers and interpreters. There is huge value in cultural experience. Most of my own personal voice interpreters for my comedy show have been BIPOC interpreters."

Pursuant to the RID Code of Professional Conduct, interpreters are expected to engage in self-introspection, self-critique, and ongoing dialogue and partnership with marginalized and oppressed communities. This helps to ensure authentic representation, which creates an unparalleled dynamic language and cultural equivalency interpretation experience.

In an email a month after the Lion King situation they invited Wann to do Wicked with a Deaf BIPOC interpreter to help train them, which is something Keith has always done, "...but this was right after the Lion King email, from the same group of people that wanted to replace me. They said ‘you would be a fantastic addition to the interpreting team. __ will be Glinda and she will be working with an interpreter feeder and can use the support of someone with your expertise'. Then in September of the same year they asked me to do Lion King again without addressing the email I received in April stating I wasn't a good match."

Wann added, "In all my interviews/statements I never said I disagreed with their decision to use a BIPOC interpreter, that was my goal too, but rather you can’t say what they did and then keep asking me to do it several more times for the same production. They needed me to fill in and ‘help’ because that was historically how they would use me, last-minute since I had experience interpreting Broadway for years and was comfortable in that role with little prep time."  

The Registry of Interpreters did their own investigation and found no violations when presented the emails, training, shows, timeline and background role established.

TDF asked Keith to stay on their list but he declined deciding to move on and focus more on raising his children and preparing them for their future, which also had his son doing some acting on Broadway as a young John Lennon.

When asked which Broadway show was his favorite he adds “I was most alive with you”, a play that had 10 deaf actors. “I had the honor and opportunity to be Harold Foxx’s personal interpreter for several months, through auditions, rehearsals, tech-week, and the play’s run”  They became good friends and still keep in touch trading comedy ideas and recording videos together. https://thetheatretimes.com/i-was-most-alive-with-you-pays-proper-tribute-to-the-d-deaf-community/

"I worked with Mr. Keith Wann in 2018 in New York City for Off - Broadway Production “I Was Most Live With You” by Pulitzer Prize Nominated Craig Lucas. He was always right there with us from the beginning to the end. When the media team from outside to interview us, Mr. Keith Wann was the right fit for me to do voice for me. He understands the importance of timing when I do my comedy stand-up and he is able to do it perfectly in a way for me to stay authentic. All I can say, you cannot go wrong with Mr. Keith

Wann because he will ensure that you will have accessibility no matter what.

That’s why I highly recommend Mr Keith Wann as an interpreter." -H.Foxx

Keith Wann is still interpreting in the medical arena and doing his comedy shows, but in addition to that he is back in school. Keith dropped out of his AA back in the 90’s when his dream was to own a Denny’s. “I had 55 credits done for my AA, and I stopped”  Now Keith is back in school to get a BS degree to show his kids that he can do it, so they can too.

How do you convey a sarcastic tone in sign language?

And how do you describe in words a silly visual gag to someone with little or no vision?

These were just a few of the unique challenges faced by interpreters working as part of Theatre Development Fund’s Access for Young Audiences program at two recent matinees of the satiric musical comedy Shrek.

“It’s concept for concept, it’s not word for word,” explains Keith Wann, a veteran American Sign Language interpreter who signed the role of Shrek and others alongside colleagues Alan Champion and Candace Broecker-Penn at a recent Access for Young Audiences performance (Access for Young Audiences is a program that offers simultaneous sign language interpretation and open captioning). “Sometimes that’s a challenge with comedy. For instance, when Lord Farquuad makes a joke about Stepford Wives, Alan [Champion] kind of acts like a zombie—he gets the concept across,” Wann relates.

In interpreting the role of the cranky ogre Shrek, Wann is careful to point that he doesn’t act; still, when he wants to convey the green anti-hero’s often sarcastic or peeved line delivery, Wann does rely on facial expressions as he signs. Champion and Broecker-Penn similarly convey attitudes of haughtiness or wonder, respectively, as Farquaad and Fiona.

“I do get very expressive on my face,” Wann says. “The tone of voice is something we can’t sign, but we can display it on our face. When Lord Farquaad sings, ‘Hey nonny nonny no,’ Alan just does this little sneer and crinkles his eyes.”

Perhaps more striking, though, are moments when the interpreters step back and direct audience members who are deaf or hard of hearing to watch the stage.

“That’s what I love about the Broadway model, which is what I learned from Alan and Candy,” Wann says. “There are a lot of physical cues onstage, and though some of us may be actors, we’re not going act it out for you. We’re going to give you enough information to understand what’s going on, then let you watch.”

He gives one of the musical’s many examples: “When the Dragon is going to eat the Donkey, it’s funnier to watch him. You know what they’re saying. Or when Fiona gets a surprise when Shrek takes his helmet off, you want the audience to be watching Fiona react to Shrek, not Candy reacting to Keith.”

Then, of course, there’s the infamous “fart” scene, in which Fiona and Shrek bond over their various, er, effusions. In this case, both the open captioners and the sign interpreters had merely to introduce the concept—the caption for the first outburst was something like “faaaarrrrtttt”—and the rest was easy to read.

“When that scene came up, all we had to do was do the ‘fart’ verb, then direct their eyes to the stage,” Wann says.

This is also not a scene that required much work from Andrea Day, who did an audio description theatregoers who are blind or have low vision at another recent matinee. In fact, she says, a lot of her work is done by the witty script.

“So much of the comedy is in the language of the piece,” Day explains. Indeed, “tone of voice,” which the sign language interpreters had to work to convey, is not a problem for audiences with vision loss. “Verbal sarcasm they can get without seeing it,” Day explains. “Some of the scenes with the Donkey, Fiona and Shrek where they’re just talking to each other, you could hear on the radio and they’d be just as funny, so I didn’t have a lot to do there.”

Shrek is not all verbal, though. For one thing, the title character’s superficially ugly appearance is a key to the show’s theme. Even more difficult to convey is one of the show’s biggest sources of comedy: The full-sized Christopher Siebert plays the half-pint Farquaad in an ingenious costume that allows him to essentially walk around the set on his knees, with tiny doll legs on his thighs and a cape disguising his lower legs.

Add to that an opening number that rifles through a dizzying array of fairy tale characters, who fire off gags so quickly that Day literally doesn’t have time to say, “Big Bad Wolf” or “Pinocchio” between their lines. Day clearly has her work cut out for her. She says she tries to handle most of these detailed descriptive duties with a 15-minute preshow talk, and more importantly, with workshop visits to schools, like St. Joseph’s School for the Blind, to help familiarize students with the piece.

To help them understand the visual gag behind Farquaad’s costume, she actually had students “walk” around on their knees, as Siebert does; she also had them try on the Donkey’s costume head.

One advantage all these TAP service providers had was that they didn’t have to familiarize audiences—least of all young audiences—with the story.

“They all know Shrek—they know every line,” Day says. “The challenge is actually to convey to them that they’re actually not watching the movie.”