Garrett Zuercher

May 31-June 1 2025

ASL Creative

IN RESIDENCE:
NEW YORK DEAF THEATER: November 12 – 25, 2024
IRT’s ASL CREATIVE: May 20 – June 2, 2025
Garrett Zuercher’s exciting new play explores themes related to differing forms of identity within the Deaf Community.

The story begins when Mateo, a profoundly Deaf young man from a Hispanic immigrant family, is charged with armed assault in a government office. Henry, a hard-of-hearing lawyer raised by a hearing family, is assigned to defend Mateo. However, the two of them quickly realize that, despite their shared physical disability, they do not share a language or cultural identity. To help them bridge these wide chasms, two interpreters are brought in, one of them a profoundly Deaf interpreter from a multigenerational Deaf Hispanic family. As a result, all three individuals living with hearing loss must confront, head-on and through each other, their own personal identities and privilege as a wildly different facet of the prism that is the rich and diverse Deaf community. In an unexpected twist, the case turns far more personal than expected for Henry and his wife when they are forced to make some very difficult choices about their own family.

PERFORMANCES:
Nov 24 @ 2PM and 6pm
May 31 @ 7pm
June 1 @ 2pm
PRICE: FREE
At IRT: 154 Christopher st. NYC #3B (third floor)
ADA Accessible
VISIT/CONTACT US»

This workshop will be presented in American sign Language(ASL), spoken English, and spoken Spanish, as well as captions in English and Spanish. The venue is also accessible for patrons in wheelchairs. 

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY GARRETT ZUERCHER
WITH
Sandra Berrios*, Mary Hould, Paul Niebanck*, Manuel Perez, Gabriel Silva, Forrest Weber*, Mark Weissglass

STAGE MANAGER
Emily Hart

VOICE DIRECTOR
Kimberly Hale

DRAMATURG
Jackson Torii Bart

DIRECTOR’S ASSISTANT
Stewart Caswell

CAPTIONING ASSISTANT
Karen Giangreco

SPANISH CONSULTANT & TRANSLATIONS
Vincent Caycedo

INTERPRETERS
Paulina Burnham, Jamie Rose Hays, Carllee James, Kat Katona, Kevin Vogel

Privilege was first developed in 2021 as part of Hunter College’s MFA in Playwrighting program under the mentorship of Lisa D’Amour.

It was further developed in November of 2024 in association with New York Deaf Theatre, supported by a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Queens Council on the Arts.

This developmental workshop was made possible, in part, by IRT’s ASL Creative Development Series. For more information, please visit irttheater.org.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. 

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Legislature; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council; A.R.T./New York’s NYC Small Theatres Fund made possible with support from the Howard Gilman Foundation.

ACCESS: IRT is a fully wheelchair-accessible facility. Please reach out to Kori Rushton if you have any accessibility questions or concerns, krushton@irttheater.org

PLEASE NOTE: All sales final and there is no late seating at IRT Theater.