Clarence Brown to Offer 'Deaf Night at the Theatre' Performances

The Clarence Brown Theatre will hold three Deaf Night at the Theatre performances during the 2014-2015 Season. The performances include: The Miracle Worker on Tuesday, October 14, A Christmas Carol on Tuesday, December 9 and A Midsummer Night's Dream on Tuesday, March 3. The performances are supported in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission. For tickets, please call the CBT Box Office at 865-974-5161.

"We are excited about our upcoming Deaf Night at the Theatre performances at the CBT. Borne out of a great need in this community, and out of collaborations with area service providers, these performances enable audiences of all kinds the opportunity to enjoy a culturally rich theatre-going experience," said David B. Byrd, CBT Managing Director.

Produced in partnership with UT's Center on Deafness, the performances are fully accessible to members of the Deaf community with more than a dozen interpreters stationed throughout the theatre and two teams interpreting the production. A number of seats with the best sightline to the interpreters are held in reserve.

"It is particularly appropriate for The Miracle Worker, a show about Helen Keller, to be accessible to everyone given that she was a pioneer and a tireless advocate for the rights of people with disabilities to have full access to education, employment, and the responsibilities of citizenship. In that spirit, the Center on Deafness at UT is thrilled to be a part of efforts to make the Clarence Brown Theatre accessible to the community," said David Smith, Director of the UT Center on Deafness.

In addition to Deaf Night at the Theatre events, the CBT also will have Open Captioned performances on the first Sunday 2:00 pm matinee for each of the 2014-2015 Season productions: The Miracle Worker on October 5; 4000 Miles on November 2; A Christmas Carol on November 30; "Master Harold"...and the boys on February 8; A Midsummer Night's Dream on February 22; A Shayna Maidel on March 29; and The Threepenny Opera on April 19.

Open Captioning is a text display of all of the words and sounds heard during a production-very similar to closed captioning on a television.

Also, a free panel discussion titled "Sociocultural and Technological Advances for Deaf and Deaf-Blind Individuals" will take place immediately following the October 5 matinee of The Miracle Worker.

With a dual mission to train the next generation of theatre artists and to provide top quality professional theatre, the Clarence Brown Theatre at the University of Tennessee Knoxville is one of only 12 academic LORT (League of Resident Theatre) institutions in the nation. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Calvin MacLean and Managing Director David B. Byrd, the CBT season runs from August through May and features eight productions ranging from musicals to drama. The 2014-2015 Season includes: Hank Williams: Lost Highway, The Miracle Worker, 4000 Miles, A Christmas Carol, "Master Harold"...and the boys, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Shayna Maidel, and The Threepenny Opera.

For more information, tickets or accessibility accommodation requests including Open Captioning, ASL, and assistive technologies, please call the CBT Box Office at 865-974-5161 or visit us online at clarencebrowntheatre.com/access. Stay connected to the Clarence Brown Theatre on Facebook (Clarence Brown Theatre), follow us on Twitter (@ClarenceBrown) and view Clarence Brown videos on YouTube (Clarence Bro).

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