With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
National Theatre of the Deaf, Inc.
Theatre/Dance/Film
1967 –
This premiere acting company comprised of deaf and hearing actors and performing simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken word.
- Biography/Description of Work
In the 1950s, Dr. Edna Simon Levine, a psychologist working in the area of deafness, had formed the concept of a professional company of deaf performers. Arthur Penn and Anne Bancroft, the director and leading actress of Broadway’s The Miracle Worker, were approached with the idea and, in turn, brought it to their colleague, Broadway set and lighting designer, David Hays. Struck by the beauty and strength of Sign Language on stage, Mr. Hays persisted in his vision of bringing this powerful form of expression to theatre audiences .... In the spring of 1967, a national television program was aired which explored the experimental idea of NTD. Working with David Hays and Broadway professionals on this groundbreaking television program was Bernard Bragg, NTD’s first actor and already a professional actor. Bernard Bragg was instrumental in helping shape the development and style of the new company. With additional funds from the U.S. Office of Education, NTD began the annual Professional Training School that summer and held its first public performance at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The company went on their first national tour in the fall from a home base it shared with The O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. In 1983, NTD moved to its own home in Chester, Connecticut. In 2000 the company moved to Hartford, and four years later made its home on the campus of the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford, Connecticut. In 2012 the company returned south to headquarters at the O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford and maintains a satellite office on the campus of the American School for the Deaf.
- Sources view
- National Theatre of the Deaf web site. [ http://www.ntd.org/ntd_history.html ]
- Associated Resource(s)