‘Huge sense pride’: Cast at Acton theater made up of people with physical, neurological disabilities

ACTON, Mass. — They call it stage fright for a reason.

The thought of performing in front of an audience is horrifying to many people.

A community theater in Acton wants to change that, particularly for people with a wide range of physical and neurological disabilities.

The Open Door Theater will present its latest production, called “Honk”, starting Friday night.

Honk is a musical version of the Ugly Duckling.

It’s a classic story with a power theme: being different from everyone else isn’t something to make a person ashamed. It’s something to celebrate.

“What we do here is make theater with blind, deaf, disabled and non-disabled actors ages 9 to adult,” said Sam Gould, the theater’s president.

“Anybody can self-advocate and be themselves and grow and stretch and do something that they might not have done yesterday and still walk away feeling a really huge sense of pride and purpose.”

Their productions bring together all kinds of people.

Leon Jerfita, who is deaf, is working with John Furtado, who is much younger, on stage.

Through an interpreter, he told Boston 25 News. “I am General Greylag, and this is my assistant lieutenant general, meaning that he is my voice on stage. As I am signing, he is watching me sign and interpreting my lines into English on age.”

Nadia Franklin-Ray has the lead role as the ugly duckling.

“I think being a trans actor, there’s definitely a lot of, not difficulty in theaters, but it’s rare that I find a theater where I can just be myself as a person.”

Bringing a production like together, with a cast and crew of 150 people, is no easy feat.

“It takes preparation,” said Teri Shea, who is directing Honk.

That includes finding roles for people that are right for them and for the show. She also wants the actors to be challenged.

She thinks the legacy of these shows carries on in the performers long after the curtain comes down.

“You get to create that art with this group of people who you didn’t even know their names, and now you know them, and you work together with them, so it’s that teamwork.”

Furtado said participating in these shows makes him feel more confident in his day-to-day interactions.

Gould has now been with the theater for 26 years.

She says they don’t cut any corners on their productions and believes in the magic they create on their stage.

“You won’t necessarily the see accommodations on stage and a cast of you know multiple disability individuals. What you will see is a really exceptional performance where everybody is given the equity of the equal playing to be able to excel and do their best work,” said Gould, adding, “Who wouldn’t want to be here? Like, who wouldn’t want to be part of this?”

Honk will premiere on Friday night and run over the next two weekends.

All performances will be interpreted in American Sign Language, have open captioning, and be sensory friendly.

Some shows will come with live audio descriptions as well.

More ticket information can be found here.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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