National Theatre for 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.

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 accomplished 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.

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