Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1977)
Thursday, november 17, 1977 page 2 ad lib The National Theatre of the Deaf speaks visually By Charlie Krig It's a tneatre company with a special quality: the ac tors not only verbalize the script but they also speak with sign language. The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) is-one of America's most remarkable acting troupes. The company is in its tenth year of creating theatre of visual language, but the NTD's tour director, Mack Seism, said in a tele phone interview that the concept of using sign language is not a technique characteristic only of the NTD. "Everyone uses visual language by moving and gestur ing. We're a first class, professional touring group but we have no relationship with rehabilitation o.f the deaf," Seism said. 'The deaf, like many troups of people, are stuck with stereotyped attitudes. Use of sign language for rehabilitation is hot our major aspect, but it is a spin off of our work." Raymond Fleming, an actor with the company, had hearing and speech problems as he grew up. As he studied English at Gaulladet. College in Washington, D.C., he be came interested in theatre and contacted the NTD. He said he could look back on his life as a deaf child and see the biases that Seism mentioned. "We (the NTD)I have improved' the image of deaf people. Too many people who've never seen a ' deaf person, except one who's peddling cards or pencils, don't realize what we can do," Fleming said. "Stereotypes like that are very hard to break. "For example, we had one extremely beautiful woman in the company who was deaf. But people who met her refused to believe that she couldn't hear because she was sc good-looking. That sort of image has passed away due to television and organizations like the National Association of the Deaf," he added. , Gaining reputation Fleming said the NTD is gaining a reputation not just as a theatre group that deaf persons can enjoy, but also as a company that consistently does good work. "We sometimes get people who come simply out of curiosity, out of a 'do-gooder' attitude to help the handi capped. But they leave with the feeling that this is what theatre is all about," Fleming said. "Others come just be cause they know it will be something good, something called 'art' that is beautiful." Fleming explained that about 85 percent of the NTD audience can hear while the remaining audience members are deaf. Fleming said this made the NTD a "cultural entity" for deaf people. Seism said audiences generally are open-minded and re ceptive and that they are "just as sophisticated in Topeka as in Toronto" so v there are no regional differences. "We occasionally have people call and ask -they always speak euphemistically about 'objectional material.' They want to know if there might be something in the show that their Aunt Maude might not like," he said. Work on each show takes about four weeks. Seism said, and the process of selecting a cast begins in late June of each year. 'We consider which plays are best suited to the company we have at hand. We could run off to Hollywood or New York to find actors but we have to find talented deaf people and train them to be actors. So, we do the opposite of most theatre companies that choose the play first and then the people," he said. Seism continued, "Our rehearsal technique depends on the work we're doing. . .We like to be challenged. Working with challenging material is much more interesting. In addition, comedy requires more energy and movement, more physical fitness. But our movement is organic. We never superimpose a movement or take a movement for granted. We think the writer tells the story in the best way and we just try to illuminate it and make it clear." v More preparation Preparation includes more than just acting, Fleming said. It also means classes in movement, direction, cos tumes and theatre history, a class that Fleming teaches. "We try to expose ourselves to as much culture, as much theatre as is possible and then integrate it into our work," he said. The NTD has done 19 national tours, two Broadway runs ten tours of Europe, Asia and Australia, three films and numerous national and international television shows such as Sesame Street and A Child's Christmas in Wales (a CBS-TV special). Accordingly, Seism said, the company has to alter its style for each medium. - "In a tneatre the audience is an active participant, much more than an audience in TV. Material has to be redone for film or TV-because of camera angles, for ex ample, but so much of the good work you see is done by an editor and his skill," Seism aid. Fleming said he prefers the stage over the other media "because it's alive, much more alive to me. The audience is there, not like TV where you do the show and then you Iff " fx A 1 --- - f;l yJ ' - n ' A SI i! ! t -Kfc$m .:. s. n f : - i , . . - - k Photo by Bob Pearson The National Theatre of the Deaf has completed 19 national tours, two Broadway runs, ten tours of Europe, Asia and Australia, three films and appeared on such, shows as Sesame Street have to wait for the ratings to come out. Also, TV must be done over and over again due to camera angles, technical problems, etc." Praise for the NTD also comes from all the media. A Los Angeles Times reviewer wrote: "In f inding new modes of actor-audience communication, the National Theatre of the Deaf has opened up theatre for all of us. Words are ghosts. The National Theatre of the Deaf puts flesh around them. On the NBC-TV Today show, Judith Crist called the NTD a ". . .wonderful company, a superb company, one of the most exciting kinds of theatre that I have encoun tered. A starting new theatrical form," Last June the company was given a special Tony award for theatrical excellence. Seism said it was "certainly a prestigious award" but that the company's goal is not to win accolades. "Or course it's rewarding to be honored, but our real intent is to please the audience. We don't want to be afraid of trying new or hard things. If we tried to be too general we'd have to be too bland and then the others who "want more out of theatre would be upset," Seism said. Seism then reflected on the company's past and pos sible future: "We've had ten years of remarkable growth, but as we continue, we'll never abandon the stage. We'll look for more work on TV, look for more film, more international work. I can even see where we could have two touring companies," Even then. Seism said, the new company would have to maintain the "same care, sarrie thought, same professional ism and excellence" that the National Theatre of the Deaf puts into each current production, ((daytime) THURS THRU WED MORNING lib Layout Editor: Lu Entertainment Editor: Carta Engstrom. Ad Beard and Kitty Policky. Ad lib is an entertainment supplement published by the Daily Nebras kan. Editor in Chief: Rex Seline, Advertising Manager Grega Wurdeman. Production Manager: Kitty Policky. Business Manager: Jerri Haussler. Unless covered by another copyright, material may be reprinted with Jt permission if attributed to Ad lib, entertainment supplement to the t lily Nebraskan. Ad lib is distributed Thursdays with the Daily Nebraskan. Cover photos by Bob Pearson fcfi O FARM AND RANCH REPORT fc10 ONEWS 13 O UNO SCENE (WED.) t f tUNKY'8 FUN CLUB f t LUCY SHOW ( J SUNRISE SEMESTER ti VARIOUS PROGRAMMING fD ROMPER ROOM 7:09 ft ff) ARCHIES tj It TODAY tics NEWS tl GOOD MORNING AMERICA O MORNING SHOW CS SESAME STREET r.30 1 MCHALE'S NAVY El FUNTSTONES tOO fl FUNTSTONES CI OOOO MORNING AMERICA (3 O CAPTAIN KANGAROO . m IN-SCHOOC PROGRAMMING (UNTIL 1:30) Ag of Uncertainty CTMUR.), Nova(FRI) fHPOPEY! 1:30 fl CARTOONS 13 SUUWINKLf 1:00 I J I DREAM Of JEANNIE II O SANFORO AND SON C I ALL MY CHILDREN C CD PRICE IS RIGHT IS PHIL DONAHUE SHOW CO TOO CLU S I X I t BEWITCHED tl O HOLLYWOOD SQUARES 10 09 f 1 LOVE AMERICAN STYLE HO WHEEL Of FORTUNE fl HAPPY DAYS M MATCH GAME fj HAPPY DAYS (EXC.FRL) Marthtt Kitchen (FRIi O ROMPER ROOM O ELECTRIC COMPANY 1030 f 1 NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY fin KNOCKOUT till FAMILY FEUO titatovtof UFS U N-SCHOOL PROGRAMMING UNTIL S S3) 13 RELKHOUS PROGRAMMING 11:09 f IONEDINUNE tlfl TO SAY THE LEAST till THE BETTER SEX 13 CD YOUNG ANO THE RESTLESS ID NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY 11 JO (1 CONVERSATIONS tlfl RYAN SHOPS f 1 OHOO ANO THE MAN t J CO SEARCH FOR TOMORROW QbOMERPYLt AFTERNOON ' O NOON SHOW O ALL MY CHILDREN f J SESAME STREET flQONGSHOW 11:11 ft FARM ACTION t f I MAYBERRY RF.O. 1 1 DAYS OUR LIVES il cross wrrs II DAYS OF OUR LIVES tl O AS THS WORLD TURNS 0 DICK VAN OYKE SHOW 1:00 O MOVIE YUten Darling (THUR. "San Franclaco Story (FRl ), 'JunQta Goddata (MON). Postmark For Danger (TUE ). Aa You Oasira Ma (WED.) 0 0 121,000 PYRAMID W-6CHOOL PROGRAMMING (UNTIL t SO) 13 LUCY SHOW 1:30 tin DOCTORS Oft ONE UFS TO LIVE f J CS OUlOtNG LIGHT m SEVERLY HILLBiLUES t 00 II O ANOTHER WORLD tO MARCUS WELBY MS tl O GENERAL HOSPITAL 30 f DENVER NOW 1 I 13 ALL IN THE FAMILY tOO J FUNTSTONES HO DONG SHOW tl I J EDGE OP NIGHT tJUDTATTLETALES (J IN-SCHOOL PROGRAMMING (UNTILtSO) fO MICKEY MOL!Se CLUB 130 1 1 GILUQAN'S BaLAND II FUNTSTONES tl MATCH GAME 1 1 PHIL DONAHUE SHOW I1ILOVE LUCY ft THREE STOOGES 13 KALAMJTY KATE'S CAR TOONS (fl ELECTRIC COMPANY fO TOM ANO JERRY 4:09 tl SUPERMAN U GILUQAN'S I8LANO (EX- C.TUE I NBC Special Treat (TUE ) niDREAMOPJEANII tl DINAH USRAOY BUNCH C3 MIKE DOUGLAS tl MISTER ROGERS 13 OALIGAN'8 ISLAND 4 39 fl FAMILY AFFAIR f 1 MY THREE SONS (tXC-TUE.) tl BRADY BUNCH It BONANZA ADAM 12 CI SESAME. STREET 13 EMERGENCY ONE 09 tllLOVELUCY fl BEWITCHED tltlASCNEWS 39 1 1 AMDY GFiFFITH SHOW tin NSC NEWS UStMTOltO 1 1 CI CSS NEWS 1 1 NEWS CI OVER EASY U ROOJUCB ADVERTISERS See your Sales Rep for details, or call 472-2589 1 101 n FATHER KNOWS SEST