National Theatre of the Deaf

The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD), officially founded in 1967 through federal grants, is the oldest theatre company in the United States (US) with a continuous history of US and international travel and of producing original works. Productions of the NTD combine the use of American Sign Language with the spoken word, in accordance with the theatre's mission statement to link deaf and hearing communities and to educate the general public about Deaf art (capital D to indicate identification with Deaf culture). Also associated with a performance school opened during the founding year of the NTD and with the Little Theatre of the Deaf (LTD), established in 1968 to produce shows for a younger-aged audience, the NTD grew quickly from its inception. In its earliest years, the campus of the O'Neill Theatre Center and the first home of the NTD was the place where deaf and hearing actors participated together as theatre students and as actors, learning and preparing for upcoming performances. The first official performance of the founding actors occurred also in 1967 at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. NTD members participated in the National and Worldwide Deaf Theatre Conference during its first meeting in 1994, in which global Deaf playwrights and actors gathered to hold discussions, critiques, and celebrations of Deaf theatre. Through association with the NTD and participation in performances, conferences, and other community outreaches, many deaf actors have earned acclaim from association with NTD. The precedence and support of the National Theatre of the Deaf has been fundamental in the collaboration of a Deaf theatre community worldwide, and the work of the NTD has been recognized through the attainment of several awards, including the Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence. Over its 52 years, the company has visited each of the 50 states in over 150 national tours and, during its international travel, over 30 countries. Currently, the NTD is located on the campus of the American School of the Deaf in West Hartford, Connecticut, and both the NTD and the LTD still produce, adapt stage works, and tour today while also expanding to continue to create new opportunities for actors and audiences in the realm of Deaf theater.

History

Since deaf performers did not have the option of participation in hearing plays, the notion of a theater of the deaf was an obvious one which existed in the thoughts of many for decades prior to 1967, the founding year of NTD. Robert Panara and Bernard Bragg were two individuals who held a long time desire for the creation of a national theatre of the deaf. In 1946 when Bob Panara was in his 20s, a recent Gallaudet University graduate and a newly hired teacher at The New York School for the Deaf also known as Fanwood (School for the Deaf), he and Bernard Bragg, a 17 year old student in Panara's English class, put on a play together. Later, in the late 40s, when Bragg was a student at Gallaudet, Panara left Fanwood and began to work as a teacher at his alma mater, rejoining Bragg. There they spent much time studying and talking about theater. It was at Gallaudet that the two conceived of the idea of a theater for the deaf. This early connection between two theater minded scholars continued to develop into a lifelong friendship, and their commitment to deaf theater grew as well greatly influencing the NTD. Later, in 1963, Dr. Edna Levine, who worked in the field of deafness at New York University, NYU, was in the audience at one of Bernard’s one-man shows as performed in NYC. Enthralled by his talent she set up a visit with Bernard for the next day. During that meeting, Levine shared her vision and dream for a national theater for the deaf. It would be nearly twenty years after the musings of Panara and Bragg on the campus of Gallaudet and four years after the time of Levine's and Bragg's meeting before this vision became a reality. Clearly, the founding of a national theater for the deaf was a shared thought among many throughout the decades leading up to 1967. In 1967, David Hays and cofounders began to assemble founding actors for the National Theater of the Deaf. In doing so Hays collaborated with industry experts including acclaimed D/deaf actors. Together, funding was provided, a mission was established, a location selected and secured, and the company members assembled. After the material to be produced was agreed upon, the first production of the NTD, which included a number of short compositions, occurred in Middletown, Connecticut at Wesleyan University. Due to the early positive reception of the work of the NTD which included performance as well as theatrical instruction in the associated NTD Professional Theater School, in 1968 the NTD was expanded to include another company, the Little Theatre of the Deaf (LTD) which was conceived to meet the needs of younger audiences.

Founders

The founders included several individuals previously established in the production industry. Ann Bancroft, the actress in the 1959 Broadway production of The Miracle Worker who played Annie Sullivan, director of The Miracle Worker, Arthur Penn, another director of The Miracle Worker, Gene Lasko, and established set designer David Hays collaborated with Edna Levine, NY psychologist with extensive experience working with D/deaf individuals and whose vision to establish a national deaf theater was a driving force in the founding of NTD.

Funding Source

In 1965 the founders obtained a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare which allowed for the establishment of the NTD. Not long after, additional grant money was provided by the U.S. Office of Education to support and further the work of the NTD. The support of Mary Switzer, who worked for the Department of Health Education, and Welfare, and Boyce R. Williams and Malcolm Norwood of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, all early deaf advocates, facilitated the securing of funds to establish The National Theatre of the Deaf.

Mission

The mission of the NTD founders was to share sign language as an art form with the public, deaf and hearing, and to feature this unique view of sign language in the realm of theater. More specifically, the founders believed that audience members need to “hear every word and see every word” in all NTD productions. In fulfilling this vision, the performances involved both D/deaf and Hearing actors. The sign language used by the D/deaf performers included sign language, mime, gesture, and spoken language which the Hearing actors provided. Since Bernard Bragg, a trained and experienced performer both on stage and in television at home and abroad by 1967, was an early member of the NTD, his style of acting had an influence on NTD productions. Bragg, as a long time student of theater arts who studied under the famous French mime, Marcel Marceau, brought his proficiency as a pantomimist to the expression of sign language as an art form to the earliest productions of the NTD.

Location

Originally, the NTD was located near the Long Island Sound in Waterford, Connecticut and operated out of the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center. The land occupied by the center was expansive though somewhat isolated. In 1983, after nearly two decades, the NTD moved to conduct operations out of Chester, CT. In 2000, NTD moved to Hartford, CT, and, four years later, NTD began to operate out of the campus of the American School for the Deaf (ASD) in West Hartford, CT. Since 2012, the NTD has returned to its original home, the O'Neill Theatre Center, while simultaneously maintaining a satellite office on the campus of ASD.

Early Acting Instructors

Bernard Bragg; Eric Malzkuhn; Bob Panara; Sahome Tachibana; Gina Blau; William Rhys; and George C. White III are seven of the early instructors who worked with students to develop all aspects of stage performance.

Curriculum Content

The content taught varied widely to include: acting; sign-mime; bodily movement; stagecraft; lighting; costumes; history of theater; creative dance; artful Japanese dance; Hindu movement; tumbling; and fencing among other aspects of performance.

Founding Actors

Violet Armstrong; Bernard Bragg; Charles Corey; Gilbert Eastman; Lou Fant; Ed Fearon; Joyce Flynn Lasko; Phyllis Frelich; Dorothy Miles; Mary Beth Miller; Audree Norton; Howard Palmer; Will Rhys; June Russi; Tim Scanlon; Morton Steinberg; Andrew Vasnick; Joe Velez; and Ralph White make up the list of founding actors of the NTD.

Notable/Famous NTD Actors

Ex-NTD actress Phyllis Frelich won the 1980 Best Actress Tony Award for Children of a Lesser God produced by The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Linda Bove, a regular on the television series Sesame Street, also acted with NTD. Other famous actors who have worked with NTD include NTD co-founder Bernard Bragg, Colleen Dewhurst, Sir Michael Redgrave, Chita Rivera, Jason Robards and Meryl Streep. While former NTD actors have been associated with fame in the Hearing culture, a greater number of Deaf actors such as Chuck Baird, Eric Malzkuhn, Ed Waterstreet, Gil Eastman, Mary Beth Miller, Manny Hernandez, to name only a fraction, have achieved recognition primarily within the Deaf culture for their theatrical talent and achievements.

(Note: Though a first time actress and not a former NTD actor, Lauren Ridloff, the actress cast as Sarah in the 2018 revival of the original 1980 production of Children of a Lesser God was nominated in May 2018 for a Tony Award in the category of Best Performance for an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play.)

Life in the NTD Troupe

Training Location

The center occupied the land and buildings formerly known as the Hammond Estate. After the city relinquished its ownership of the estate, the nearly 100 acres of land was owned by the O'Neill Foundation.

Practice

Performers and students of the NTD Professional Theatre School spent long hours rehearsing and taking classes at NTD. Participation required life away from home for many weeks consecutively as rehearsals and later performances occupied most hours of the day for actors and students. Travel from one performance location to another occurred by bus both for US and for European performances. Often the actors gave performances in one location one day and in another often many miles away the next day. Since the actors only received part time pay, bus travel was only one out of pocket expense for participants.

Living accommodations

Actors and theater students lived dorm style on the old buildings of the O'Neill Theatre Center when rehearsing for upcoming performances. They lived in affordable hotels across the US while performing on the road. Often sleeping on the bus was required to keep costs low. When traveling internationally, the performers occupied similar hostel-type lodgings as those found in Europe.

Performance Contents

The selected plays to perform came from traditional literature as well as from the collection of many plays written by D/deaf playwrights.

Response to NTD work

Hearing audiences gave supportive reviews for the NTD performances from the start and throughout the history of the NTD, while D/deaf and Hard of Hearing (HH) audiences had mixed reviews for the work of the NTD. D/deaf and HH audience members expected performances to be focused more around the deaf experience, and they expected ASL to be more ‘realistic’ and less theatricalized. Some D/deaf viewed NTD performances to be an attempt to cater toward Hearing audiences which was not well received. Throughout the years, many D/deaf have come to appreciate the work of NTD.

Early Historians

The history of the NTD has been recorded in a variety of sources. Helen Powers, a journalist, wrote extensively about the NTD in her book Signs of Silence. The NTD has been discussed by D/deaf individuals in their published biographies such as Lessons in Laughter: An Autobiography by a Deaf Actor by Bernard Bragg and in primary sources such as personal interviews for newspapers such as Silent News (a publication for the D/deaf), journals such as the Puppetry Journal, and television shows such as Deaf Mosaic which aired regularly during the 80s and 90s. Additionally, several scholars have included details about the NTD, its formation and development, in their academic dissertations when obtaining advanced degrees.

Effects of the Work of NTD

The NTD has provided a fertile ground for D/deaf actors to develop their theatrical talents and to share this art form with audiences worldwide. The work of the NTD has been and is currently also a way for D/deaf actors to achieve greater visibility and acclaim. At times this public exposure enabled D/deaf actors to gain roles in Hearing television and theater. Since the NTD was the first Deaf troupe to travel the world extensively and to perform in so many diverse locations, the NTD is notable for building international relationships among D/deaf actors worldwide and between D/deaf and Hearing actors across the globe. The performances given by the NTD have and continue to influence the perceptions of Hearing viewers regarding D/deaf individuals. Through viewing sign language as including, for one, the form of art depicted in NTD performances, many Hearing people have come to realize the talent and capabilities of the D/deaf.

External links

• Official website