Visual Vernacular artist Justin Perez, back, leads a game of charades between the Speak Team, left, and the Roses Team, right, on the stage of Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Sept. 9. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Shepherdstown resident Winnie Bernat pitched an imaginary baseball across the stage of Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Tuesday night, during the monthly Speak Story Series program on Tuesday night.

Bernat was part of a group of four brought to the stage to try their hand at the art of Visual Vernacular (VV) — the preferred performance medium of storyteller Justin Perez. The Texas-based artist, who has presented his stories around the globe, brought to the silent performance a unique perspective, due to his experience as a deaf person.

“Nice work! That was absolutely beautiful,” Perez said after the attempt. “I know you can’t see yourselves, but from my perspective, it was quite a show.”

In between his silent VV performances of an apple seed’s growth into a fruit-bearing tree, a game of Pac-Man, the Animorphs science fantasy series and Buzz Lightyear’s fall in “Toy Story,” Perez spoke to the mostly hearing audience through an interpreter, Emily McGee. A second American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, Kevin Dyels, then signed to Perez what was being verbally spoken by the audience.

“I love bringing the art of Visual Vernacular to audiences,” Perez said, mentioning that it is similar to, but not the same as, mime. “Mime has limits and Visual Vernacular has a little bit more fluidity to it.”

Community members try their hand at Visual Vernacular storytelling of a baseball game, on the stage of Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Sept. 9. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

The art form has likely been practiced, primarily by deaf individuals, for centuries. However, Perez said its name and professional performance side has been a more recent development.

“In the 1960s, Bernard Brag began to research and kind of examine what different techniques were showing up, as he saw deaf children who did not have language — had not been exposed to sign language and was from a hearing family — and was just gesturing. He saw that natural gesturing of things. It wasn’t ASL, but it had unique characteristics — almost like a movie,” Perez said, mentioning Brag had professional training as a mime. “From that initial seed that got planted, along his journey he met different people and found this term, Visual Vernacular.”

Brag, who cofounded the National Theatre of the Deaf, went on to develop VV performance techniques and become a renowned VV artist. His art form proved incredibly popular, especially in the deaf community. Speak Story Series founding artistic director Adam Booth was aware of this and of the large ASL-speaking and deaf community in the Eastern Panhandle, so when he saw Perez perform at a recent storytelling festival, he knew that he needed to bring Perez’s talents to the Speak Story Series stage.

“He is the second deaf performing artist we have featured at Speak. We had our first one last year, Peter Cook, who was really well received,” Booth said “We heard from the community, ‘Please, bring another one.'”

He said the performance would not have been possible, without the help of a $10,000 Mid Atlantic Arts grant. The grant covered the cost of hiring and housing Perez and the two interpreters, who made three presentations in all — for Speak, for a Jefferson High School theater class and for the West Virginia Secondary School for the Deaf in Romney.

Visual Vernacular artist Justin Perez leads the crowd in acting out the fall of Buzz Lightyear, from the “Toy Story” movie, in Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Sept. 9. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

“It was quite a boon for us, to receive that grant. He’s such an incredible artist,” Booth said. “We’ve showcased almost 20 different languages spoken on our series. It was so cool to add ASL to that number.”

Those who would like to watch Perez’s performance at Speak can still do so, by purchasing a ticket for the performance recording within the next two weeks, at https://www.speakstoryseries.com/tickets/online-ticket-for-tuesday-september-9-with-justin-perez.

Visual Vernacular artist Justin Perez tells the silent story of an apple seed’s growth, in Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church on Sept. 9. Photo by Tabitha Johnston