Audiences Flock To See Blind-Deaf Ensemble

Editor’s note: you probably couldn’t produce this in Belgium…

 

(Jewish Voice NY)
January 28, 2013

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] The 11 cast members of “Not By Bread Alone” are all deaf, blind or visually impaired. And speaking of unconventional, the play begins with the cast members baking bread on stage. Throughout the play, the bread is kneaded, formed and baked, as the extraordinary storytellers convey their memories and dreams.

First, the show began running in Tel Aviv. Then, it traveled to London, where audience members gave a standing ovation to the world’s “only professional deaf-blind ensemble.” Last month, it made its US premiere at the NYU Skirball Center to equally staggering reviews.

When director Adina Tal was originally approached 14 years ago to run a two-month workshop for a deaf-blind social club, she agreed. The traveling workshop evolved into a theater company, and in 2007 the troupe moved to its permanent home, the Nalagaat Center in the old Jaffa port of Tel Aviv. “There was no other deaf-blind theater group,” said Ms. Tal, 59, president and artistic director of Nalagaat. “I always regretted that I’d been born too late to establish the state of Israel. This was a gift — a chance to invent the wheel.”

The cast presents a collection of autobiographical skits and anecdotes, which give captivating insights into their inner worlds. “What I find important is that whoever I meet shakes my hand, because this way, I know he exists,” said cast member Shoshana Segal.

Entire article:
Audiences Flock to See Blind-Deaf Ensemble
http://tinyurl.com/bxxcd8v
Related:
Nalagaat, Israeli Troupe of Deaf-Blind Actors (New York Times)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0128136b