Alan Abarbanell presents the Abababa Farewell Tour on Oct. 4

Sign language interpreter Alan Abarbanell will perform his Abababa Farewell Tour at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 in Dale B. Lake Auditorium. The performance is free and open to the community. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

For more than 20 years, Alan Abarbanell has toured the U.S. with his critically acclaimed, one-man show, “The Abababa Road Tour” chronicling his experiences growing up hearing in a deaf family. ABABABA–a name given to him by a friend who could not pronounce Abarbanell – is a proud coda (Child of Deaf Adults). Alan wrote this show as a loving tribute to his deaf heritage and coda family. Each performance is dedicated to Alan’s parents Joe and Yetta Abarbanell whom he credits with his sense of humor, creativity and love for his community.

Abababa takes audiences on a roller coaster ride of emotion - first pulling them through the hilarious rush and shocking twists of his youth, then plunging them into the tragedy and loss that followed, only to hurl them toward laughter once again. With the simple wave of a hand, Abababa renders each audience exhausted from gales of laughter and torrents of tears by the show’s end.

Abarbanell is a veteran sign language interpreter originally from Chicago who, in addition to his 30 years of freelance work, has lectured nationally on the issues of interpreter ethics and coda family issues.