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canada.com
This is the 10th anniversary of the world’s only deaf-blind acting troupe, Nalaga’at, which means “do touch” in Hebrew.
The Jerusalem Post recently profiled the company, which was founded to “integrate the deaf-blind into the community, giving them an opportunity to express themselves in a creative way and give their audience a meaningful experience.”
Its development manager, Jonathan Tomkins, told the Post the name stems from the fact “the actors of our show are blind and deaf, the way we communicate with them is by touch. We ask people who come to our centre to communicate, to touch.”
Photo Taken by: Tamar Amir
Nalaga’at began as a social club. Members asked Israeli actor and director, Adina Tal to put on a drama class.
“Although I had no previous experience with the subject nor had ever closely known any deaf or blind person, not to mention any deaf-blind, I decided nonetheless to accept the challenge,” Tal says.
She recalls her first lesson. “Nobody could see me or hear me. They gave me a coffee and I put it down and somebody stood on it. I couldn’t imagine how we might begin to work together. So we sat in a circle and squeezed hands and tapped knees and tried to find a way of communicating. At every meeting I learned something new, but it was frustrating. The general expectation was merely to teach a drama course for several months. Little would I know that this interaction would change my life.”
Tal is now president of the organization and has come to recognize the advantages of directing deaf-blind actors.
“Because they can’t see each other, they can’t imitate each other. So everything they do is completely unique. If you ask them to mime eating grapes, you get 11 entirely different ways of eating grapes. That wouldn’t happen with seeing actors. They can’t be like anyone else. None of them has ever seen Marlon Brando or Al Pacino act. They can’t copy. That’s why they are great.”
Source: www.canada.com/health/vision/Deaf+blind+troupe+celebrates+anniversary/6763999/story.html
