Sounding off

So far in 2006, actress Alexandria Wailes has appeared in Off Broadway productions at Ensemble Studio Theatre and with Keen Company, and is currently performing opposite Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in George C. Wolfe's new staging of Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children in Central Park. For any New York actor, that would count as a phenomenal year. Considering that Wailes is deaf, it ranks as something more.

Poised and attractive, the 30-year-old Wailes answers "Yes and no," when asked if she is surprised by her run of successes. "Yes, because I wasn't expecting so much opportunity. But no, because I love working, so the chances are bound to come. That's what they say—keep working and work comes to you."

In Mother Courage, Wailes plays Kattrin, the mute daughter of war profiteer Courage (played by Streep), and is almost alone in the play in showing compassion toward her fellow humans. An American Sign Language interpreter was present at every rehearsal. At first, director Wolfe was rattled by the interpreter's presence, because "I talk so fast and will periodically abandon English and speak in rhythms or sounds," he admits. "But the interpreter and Alexandria didn't seem the least bit fazed by my erratic rhythms—so I relaxed."

The situation, however, had an unexpected effect on other members of the company. "One actor said that, for him, the energy in the room had changed, having a deaf person in the cast," Wailes relates. "The level of communication made them more aware." Wailes, who reads lips and has an easily intelligible speaking voice, has been deaf since the age of 13 months, when she was hospitalized with meningitis. To bring her fever down, doctors risked strong medication; the treatment burned her cochlear nerves, which aid in hearing. (She retains trace hearing in her left ear.)

Trained as a dancer, Wailes began her acting career relatively late, taking an intensive summer course at Los Angeles' Deaf West Theatre in 2002. Before she completed the class, the company asked her to join its upcoming revival of the musical Big River, which was a hit for the troupe and employed both hearing and hearing-impaired actors. "At the last minute someone wasn't able to do it, so they asked me," she adds. "The timing couldn't have been better." The unique show, presented at the Mark Taper Forum, was a critical and audience hit; it transferred to Broadway in 2003 and began a national tour the following year. When the tour ended, Wailes remained in New York. Soon enough, she was cast as the lead in Keen's revival of Children of a Lesser God.

She won her roles in that show and Mother Courage the old-fashioned way: by auditioning. She didn't meet Streep or Kline until the first rehearsal, but claims she wasn't overly nervous. "I got over it fast," she says. "You don't have time to be starstruck: You realize they're working actors."

Mother Courage and Her Children is at the Delacorte Theater.