We are grateful for Marceau himself, and for his influence on Bragg, who would go on to co-found the National Theatre of the Deaf with others who shared a vision for a national #DeafTheatre.

“Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?” -Marcel Marceau

Marceau and Bragg would continue to meet throughout their careers. Marceau’s popularizing the art of mime and silent art forms, encouraged Bragg’s experimentation with “sign mime” as Bragg termed it, which led to the evolution of what today we call “#VisualVernacular,” or “#VV.”

It was in 1956 at a San Francisco nightclub where a young Bernard Bragg watched Marceau’s performance, marveling at how Marceau could perform across the world without speaking a single word. Bragg introduced himself to Marceau backstage, and Marceau invited him to train in Paris.

Marcel, as a young Jewish boy, actively resisted the Nazi occupation of France during WWII. There is a story about Marceau saving a group of children by entertaining them with his performances so they felt they were on “vacation,” instead of fleeing for their lives.

Growing up in France, Marcel’s hero was Charlie Chaplin, star of silent films, with his incredible physical humor and ability to relate the human condition through his physicality.

The cast was led by Darby Jared Leigh as Peer Gynt, along with Olav Axelsen, Kandie Carle, Camille L. Jeter, Paul Savas, Michael J. Stark, Deb'e Taylor, Anne G. Tomasetti, Dennis Webster, and Christopher Yeatman.

His travels take him through the chaos of many adventures and failures in search of himself and the meaning of life, eventually redeeming himself with love and a realization of where his true empire is.

Peer Gynt, a young man with fanciful imagination, believes himself destined to live an extraordinary life, and goes on a journey to become the emperor he imagines himself being one day.

NTD’s tour of Peer Gynt in the 97-98 season visited over 60 cities, and was a collaboration with the acclaimed Pilobolus Dance Theater. The piece was highly physical, and enhanced with onstage puppetry, masks, and musical elements played on drums, rattles, and other instruments.

Photo by Robert Steinberg
Photo obtained from Columbus Metropolitan Library archives

Phyllis is no longer with us, and we are forever grateful for her incredible presence and immeasurable impact on American #theatre and #DeafTheatre

In the photo here, you can see Phyllis in her first Broadway appearance as Polly Garter in “Songs from Milk Wood,” with Lou Fant, who played Captain Cat. The play was directed by J Ranelli, adapted by Bernard Bragg and Dorothy Miles, and opened at the ANTA Theatre on January 10, 1970. #DeafTheatre

The “King of Hearts” was directed by J Ranelli and toured across the nation in 1988-1989.

Photo by A. Vincent Scarano
Image procured from Northeast University digital archives.

Here in this image, you can see Chuck Baird as The Painter (right) in “The King of Hearts,” with Willy Conley as Private Charles Plumpick. Chuck, as The Painter, constructed the set as the story unfolded, creating the scenery and setting with each stroke of the brush.