BIGGER DREAMS
A TWO ACT PLAY ABOUT DEAF POLITICIAN GARY MALKOWSKI
Published:
5/30/2003
Format:
Perfect Bound Softcover
Pages:
144
Size:
5x8
ISBN:
978-1-41072-537-0
Print Type:
B/W
BIGGER DREAMS: A Two Act Play about Deaf Politician Gary Malkowski is the theatrical adaptation of Richard Medugno’s own 300+ page biography, DEAF POLITICIAN: The Gary Malkowski Story. The play opens with the discovery of young Gary’s deafness and follows his struggles with his hearing family and to become educated. The drama builds as Gary experiences a rebirth as a proud Deaf individual while attending Gallaudet University, climaxing with his return to Canada and historic election to the province of Ontario’s parliament. Mr. Malkowski’s story is dramatic, engaging and an inspiring testimony that deaf people "can do anything but hear." BIGGER DREAMS has thirty-two roles for actors who are deaf; actors who are hearing and know sign language; and hearing actors who do not know sign language. As a performance piece, BIGGER DREAMS is an exciting full-length play filled with equal portions of humor and heartbreak. The playwright includes notes on successfully staging and casting the show. As a piece of literature, BIGGER DREAMS is ideal for scene study and can be read "aloud" in a classroom setting for Deaf Studies, English or Theatre courses. The script format makes Malkowski’s amazing life accessible, memorable and fun for Deaf and sign language students; members of the Deaf Community; parents and teacher of the deaf; and anyone who is interested in disability role models or exhilarating true stories.
RICHARD cracks open a newspaper and begins reading. A few moments later, GARY and JUDY enter. GARY GOOD MORNING! JUDY Hello, Richard. RICHARD Hello, Hello....Hey, did you see this....? JUDY signs for RICHARD and voices for GARY. JUDY What is it? RICHARD Christine Hart’s resigned her cabinet position... (Reading the newspaper.) "York East M.P.P. Christine Hart has quit the Ontario provincial cabinet as Minister of Culture yesterday after admitting she accepted political help from employees of two communication companies...The premier says there was nothing illegal but he was concerned about the potential conflict of interest...." GARY & JUDY I live in East York. She’s my M.P.P.! RICHARD She is going to be vulnerable in the election.... (Joking.) Hey, Gary, why don’t you run for her seat? GARY & JUDY (Seriously.) You think I should be a candidate? RICHARD (His smile disappearing.) Ah....Well, they do need an New Democratic Party candidate for that riding... GARY & JUDY You think I could be a Member of Provincial Parliament? RICHARD Sure. You’d be terrific. I have always thought in the past that it would be great to have candidates who were disabled or disadvantaged. GARY & JUDY Okay, what’s the procedure? How do I get involved? How do I run for office? RICHARD You really want to run? GARY Yes! RICHARD Don’t you want to think about it? GARY & JUDY (Shrugs.) No. I really want to try. How do I get started? RICHARD Well, are you a member of any political party? GARY & JUDY Well, to tell you the truth, I don’t even know the differences between the parties. RICHARD Oh, come on. You’re doing what a social democrat would do. You would fit in with the New Democratic Party. Here, let’s get you signed up. RICHARD pulls a form out from his desk and starts to fill in some of the form. RICHARD Just sign here..... GARY takes a pen and signs the form. He returns the form to RICHARD. RICHARD Are you sure you want to be a politician? GARY Yes! RICHARD Are you sure you want to be an M.P.P.? It’s a big challenge and it could lead to a hectic life. It would really cut into your family time. GARY & JUDY I want to try. I know I am a long-shot but I want to try anyway. RICHARD Great. This is going to be fun. ( They shake hands.) Spotlight on the NARRATOR. NARRATOR A couple of weeks after Gary decided to run for office, Richard Johnston introduced him to the York East Riding Association for the New Democratic Party. This was the local political organization that would help Gary run for office. Spotlight up on RICHARD JOHNSTON. RICHARD After Gary decided he wanted to run, I contacted the riding association and they were not enthusiastic about having a deaf candidate. I didn’t have much power to twist arms with, but I tried to cajole and convince them Gary would be a great candidate. They were reluctant but they were having trouble fielding candidates. It was a really moribund organization. They had a loser lethargy. No one wanted to run and finish a distant third. I explained Gary’s history and what a passionate hard worker he was and how it would be historic. Finally, they saw that having a candidate like Gary on their behalf had a lot of upside. So they agreed, but no one, myself included, had any expectations that he could possibly win a seat. A lot of folks running the Ontario NDP thought it was "neat" idea, but the party wasn’t really ready for the implications of having a deaf candidate, like the costs of interpreters....
Richard Medugno, a graduate of UC Irvine’s School of Fine Arts, is a playwright and freelance writer who lives in Fremont, California with his wife and two children. Before moving to Northern California, Mr. Medugno resided in East York, Ontario, Canada, where he was a constituent, eyewitness and later a friend of Member of Provincial Parliament, Gary Malkowski. BIGGER DREAMS is a stage adaptation of Medugno’s own soon-to-be published biography, DEAF POLITICIAN: The Gary Malkowski Story. Mr. Medugno is also the author of a number of plays, including SILENT SALZBURG, an award-winning drama about a Christian family that goes into hiding in 1940 Austria to protect their deaf son from sterilization by the Nazis.

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