Works by James Caverly:
TRASH
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
SEE/HEAR/SPEAK NO BEAST
A BETTER PLACE
SURPRISE GUEST
Synopses:
Trash – (co written with Andrew Morrill. Full length; 3M, 1W, 1NB) Tim and Jake may be Deaf roommates sharing an apartment in the city, but they are polar opposites – each with very different worldviews on what it means to be Deaf in a hearing world. When it comes to taking out the trash, they take a comical and insightful dive into their trash and their perceptions of each other’s lives. Trash was originally written as a one-act piece as part of JACK NY’s Radical Acts Festival. The script was devised further at IRT Theatre as part of their IRT 3B Development Series: Artist Residency. Trash is a ground-breaking work in which audience members get to experience theatre in an entirely new way: through sign language, spoken translation, projections, and audience voting.
A Christmas Carol – (Adaptation. Full length; 1M) Performed entirely through Zoom, one man retells the story of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol using his home as his setting. Ebenezer Scrooge, the famous miser of London, is visited by ghosts who warn him of his future should he continue down the path he is on.
See/Hear/Speak No Beast (co-written with Deaf Theatre of Ohio; 16 ensemble) An adaptation of Beauty and the Beast; Alexander Graham Bell, an ardent educator of the oral method to Deaf children, mentors a young teacher named Dennis, who applies his cruel teachings at a Deaf school. Through his teachings, he turns into a creature, unable to communicate until he meets Bella, a Deaf educator, who teaches him sign language and in doing so, changes his worldview on what it means to be a Deaf person.
A Better Place – (10 minutes; 1M, 1NB) Rayburn arrives in an elevator operated by a mystical figure who transports him through different stages of his life until he comes to terms with his biggest regret.
Surprise Guest – (10 minutes; 1W, 1NB) Ancient, half-blind Martha enters her bathroom to begin her nightly routine but unbeknownst to her, a giant man-sized bug is desperately trying to escape.
A Better Place and Surprise Guest have been produced at Deaf Austin Theatre and Deaf Spotlight, respectively. He collaborated with artists from Deaf Theatre of Ohio in writing and directing See/Hear/Speak No Beast for Kent State University at Trumbull in Fall 2019. During the height of COVID, Caverly had adapted and directed a one-man performance of A Christmas Carol for New York Deaf Theatre which was rehearsed and premiered entirely through Zoom.
Bio:
James Caverly is known for playing Theo Dimas on Only Murders In The Building. Broadway: Studio 54 Children Of A Lesser God. Regional Theatre: Olney Theatre Center- The Music Man; Huntington Theatre Company- I Was Most Alive With You; Studio Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Kitchen Theatre Company, and SpeakEasy Theatre Company- Tribes. He is also a former member of the prestigious National Theatre of the Deaf. Director:Noises Off, Dr. Faustus, and Cloud 9 (assistant) at Gallaudet University; Romeo and Juliet at Community College of Baltimore County at Catonsville; Every Brilliant Thing and Romantic Fools at New York Deaf Theatre. His work as a Director of ASL spans across more than 20 different performances in Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, and Philadelphia.