National Theater of the Deaf
The National Theater of the Deaf (NTD) is an American touring theater where Deaf artists work and perform professionally. The company was founded in 1967 by the set designer David Hays in Waterford , Connecticut , with the help of state funds and, after several relocations, is now based in the US state of Connecticut in West Hartford on the campus of the traditional American School for the Deaf (ASD) .
The theater offers artists a platform for the presentation of the deaf culture and also aims to bring it closer to a broad audience. For this, the US is sign language ( American Sign Language , ASL) combined with the spoken word. The concept goes back to the psychologist Edna Simon Levine. Today, the National Theater of the Deaf has made over 100 national tours in all 50 states of the United States and over 30 international tours with a total of more than 7,000 performances. The National Theater of the Deaf has won several awards, including the Tony Award for "Theatrical Excellence," and is the oldest continuously operating touring theater in the United States in its own right .
Famous former members include Phyllis Frelich and Howie Seago . The National Theater of the Deaf has also worked with well-known hearing artists such as Chita Rivera , Jason Robards , Peter Sellars , Tetsuko Kuroyanagi , Meryl Streep , Marcel Marceau and Colleen Dewhurst .
A branch of the National Theater for Deaf Children is the Little Theater of the Deaf (LTD), whose performances are also featured in the television series Sesame Street .