Thee Exquiste Troupe…

Tavon is blind. He can’t see the frightened expressions-contorting the actors’ grease painted faces, or the felted yellow Stars of David stitched to their costumes, or the exotically colored silk saris forming the portable scenery. Yet tonight, Tavon and 11 other students from The Maryland School for the Blind-most of whom also have multiple disabilities, or attention-deficit disorder, or behavioral problems in addition to being visually impaired-are experiencing theater…. This evening at The Maryland School for the Blind, Tavon is opening his mind and his imagination. Tavon interacts with Margolius, sensing what she is trying to convey. As Margolius acts out the story of Anne Frank’s life and legacy, Tavon responds. He giggles as she dusts him with glitter and then massages his arms, cries as she expresses fear, yelps as she exuberantly twirls him to Yiddish folk music, coos as she flutters a silk parachute over him. And when the performance is over, Tavon finds his way to Margolius, tentatively touching the velvet folds of her skirt. On his face is a smudge of make-up. “Thank you!” Tavon declares earnestly. “I feel so good!”.

Excerpt from Awakenings by Kathleen Renda – Baltimore Magazine 1996