Performed simultaneously in signed ASL and spoken English, Another Kind of Silence examines relationships shaped by difference. Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing characters are paired with a “chorus” - another voice, another body - revealing interior thoughts and emotional truths through a second language. Layered communication and embodied storytelling drive the work, expanding the possibilities of bilingual theatre while centering collective well-being.

The characters’ intersecting stories move through love, fulfillment, hunger, and silence, tracing their journeys as they search for a way forward. What is signed, what is spoken, and what is left unspoken forms a richly textured theatrical language of transformation.

NOTE: signed ASL and spoken English are fully integrated into every performance. 

The VORTEX continues its “Pursuit of Happiness” season with the Rolling World Premiere of Another Kind of Silence, a new bilingual play in English and ASL (American Sign Language) by L M Feldman, directed by MoMo Holt. A National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere, this production unites Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing artists and audiences into a fully integrated bilingual experience.

CREATIVE TEAM: Playwright: L M Feldman. Guest Director: MoMo Holt. Assistant Directors: Taylor Flanagan and Kerry Cooler. Assistant Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL): JoAnn Benefield. Intimacy Director: Andy Grapko.

PRODUCTION TEAM: Stage Management: Monica Kurtz and Tamara L. Farley. Assistant Stage Management: Liz Ross and Tim Ervin. Script Supervisor: Deb Streusand. Associate Artistic Direction, Dramaturg, and Symposium Direction: Rudy Ramirez. Managing Director, Melissa McKnight. Producing Artistic Director, Bonnie Cullum. 

DESIGN TEAM: Scenic Designer: Izzy Poehlmann. Lighting Designer: Amy Lewis. Costume Designer: Desiree Humphries. Sound Designer: Johann Solo. Projection Designer: Enrique Gomez. Hair and Makeup Design by Ivy Vidal. Prop Design by Jamie Caroll. 

ASL-ENGLISH INTERPRETING TEAM: Cristian Matoon, Tresa Beard, Tim Ervin, and others.

CAST: H. Pavey as ANA, TL Forsburg as CHAP, Shasparay as EVAN, Day West as PETER, Jelena Stojiljkovic Rhynes as ANA’S CHORUS, Jesse Peña as CHAP’S CHORUS, Heba Toulan as EVAN’S CHORUS, and Brian Andrew Cheslik as PETER’S CHORUS. 

The VORTEX, Austin’s long-standing home for new theatre, has a 15-year history of ASL-interpretation of theatre and is the ideal place to foster the growth and deepening of these relationships. Working alongside ArtSpark Texas, Deaf Austin Theatre, and the Texas School for the Deaf this production will expand opportunities for future collaborations. 

CREDITS: For more than two years, with support from The Venturous Theatre Fund and National New Play Network (NNPN) grants, this play was developed through NNPN in collaboration with City Theatre (Pittsburgh, PA), Curious Theatre (Denver, CO), and The VORTEX (Austin, TX), in that sequence. 

The Venturous Playwright Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center (Minneapolis, MN) funded Another Kind of Silence to be translated into ASL and workshopped under the leadership of MoMo Holt, the original DASL, who created the notated ASL gloss for the script. The play was first produced at City Theatre in early fall 2025, directed by Kim Weild, with MoMo Holt serving as DASL and Clare Drobot, Artistic Director of City Theatre, serving as dramaturg.

Another Kind of Silence is supported in part by VORTEX Repertory Company, a District Grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the National New Play Network, the City of Austin Economic Development Department, Six Square Austin’s Black Cultural District, and ATX Theatre. 

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L M Feldman (Playwright) is a queer, feminist, GNC playwright who writes theatrically audacious, physically kinetic, ensemble-driven plays that are both epic & intimate. Plays about the women & queers in the margins. Plays that shift the prism. Plays that quest & grapple. Plays that explode space & time & dramaturgical form. Plays that seek to create a communally transcendent experience – for those both onstage & off. Recent plays include: S P A C E (Central Square Theater); HAND FOOT HAND (Playwrights Realm); LIMBER, A LOVE STORY (Emerson Stage); THRIVE, OR WHAT YOU WILL [AN EPIC] (American Shakespeare Center); SCRIBE, OR THE SISTERS MILTON, OR ELEGY FOR THE UNWRITTEN (Playwrights’ Center); and ANOTHER KIND OF SILENCE (City Theater Company); among others. L is ongoingly thankful to have been a Venturous Playwright Fellow & a Core Writer at the Playwrights’ Center, 

a finalist for the FEWW Prize & the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Drama, and a nominee for the Herb Alpert Award, Wendy Wasserstein Prize, Barrie & Bernice Stavis Playwright Award, Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award, & Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. A movement artist by trade, L spent a decade performing duo trapeze at festivals around the world, and they continue to teach both playwriting & circus dramaturgy around the country. L is passionate about theater that MOVES, and circus that DELVES. L has lived in seven cities and is based in Philadelphia, where they write, collaborate, advocate, teach, and handstand.

MoMo Holt (Director) is an acclaimed actor, director, playwright, Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI), and Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL), whose work centers Deaf-led, bilingual theatre with “access-built-in” every stage of the artistic process. She is a professor in the Performing Arts Program at Gallaudet University, where her teaching and scholarship advance inclusive performance practices, Universal Design in Theatrical Presentation, VGC-centered (Visual Gestural Communication) storytelling, and translation for performance. MoMo has been deeply involved in the development and life of Another Kind of Silence, originating the role of ANA and performing in all three major workshops: The Drama League’s New Directors/New Works program in New York City (2013), PlayPenn in Philadelphia (2016), and the Colorado New Play Summit in Denver (2020). She later served for a full year as DASL for the production at City Theatre (Pittsburgh), where she led all ASL translation; provided Deaf-centered dramaturgy; guided the production’s engagement with Deaf and hard-of-hearing cultures; and coached both Deaf and hearing actors in ASL performance, bilingual storytelling, access aesthetics, and culturally responsive collaboration. In this same production, she also performed as Peter’s Chorus. She holds a BFA in Acting from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Theatre from Towson University, and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.