Alan Roy Barwiolek, known to many as “AlB,” was born to Stanley and Irene Barwiolek on July 19, 1952, in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, outside of Pittsburgh. Like his older sister and parents before him, he attended the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) from 1956 to 1970. Alan was often times noted as a bright student and was very well known among his peers due to his penchant for telling humorous stories.

After graduating from WPSD, Alan moved on to Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University), which he attended from 1970 to 1975. At first drawn to studying Art History, he moved on to his true calling and received his BA in Drama. While attending Gallaudet, Alan was very active in the school’s theatre, playing parts in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” in 1973 and winning Best Actor for his role as Hucklebee in “The Fantasticks” in 1975. Alan then moved to New York and attended New York University, receiving his MA in Educational Theatre in 1977 while studying acting with the National Theater of the Deaf (NTD).

Alan was involved in numerous caveats of theatre for the deaf and theatre accessibility: he was a founding member and President of the New York Deaf Theatre (NYDT) and performed with them in several Off-Broadway shows; Sign Language Coach and Deaf Cultural Arts Consultant for the Theatre Development Fund, Theatre Access Project for Broadway shows, and the New York City Opera; taught Creative Dramatics to deaf and hearing children at the Boston School for the Deaf under Project REACH; and coached Oscar-winning William Hurt for his role in “Children of a Lesser God” and Larry Bazzell for his Obie-winning performance in “The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy.”

Alan Barwiolek was perhaps most famously known for his activities with CHALB Productions, which he co-created with J. Charlie McKinney in 1980. Their first performance at the Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf (PSAD) Convention in York, Pennsylvania, was a play called “Deaf Pa, What?” which consisted of a satirical look at Deaf Culture, deaf norms, and American Sign Language. The play became a huge success and the duo was invited to perform all over the country as well as abroad in countries like France and Japan. Additional plays were added to their repertoire, including “The Anatomy and Physiology of Deaf Bodies,” “CHALBley’s Believe It or Not,” and “Deaf Abuse Center.” Alan and Charlie were responsible for creating, producing, directing, and performing all of their works. They also conducted numerous workshops and lectures relating to Deaf Culture, ASL, and deaf norms. When he wasn’t performing, Alan’s full-time positions consisted of working as a Deaf-Blind Specialist with the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Newark, New Jersey, then later as an American Sign Language and Interpreter Training Professor at Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey.

Alan Roy Barwiolek passed away on April 17, 1996.