Who Are We?
A cultural, entertainment and training center. The Nalaga'at Center is a meeting place for deaf, blind and deaf-blind and the wide public that through an artistic and cultural experience engage in a dialogue between equals by means of the Nalaga'at Theater, "Kapish" café, "Blackout" restaurant, workshops and training programs.
The Nalaga'at Center develops and offers unique employment opportunities that assist deaf, blind and deaf-blind individuals in providing for themselves while developing their own unique talents, skills and abilities.
We believe all humans were created equal but different and that every person has the right to make his or her contribution to society. The Nalaga'at Center employs people of all races, religions, sex and gender.
How it all began....
December 2002-2005
The Nalaga'at non-profit organization raised the curtain on the world's first and only theater ensemble whose actors are all deaf-blind, with its performance "Light is Heard in Zig-Zag". The show was applauded by audience and critics in Israel and worldwide.
2005-2007
Following the show's huge success and in order to widen the organization's activities, we decided to establish a home for the theater group and for our future initiatives. A long search led us to a deserted warehouse in Jaffa, property of the Armenian Church, which we rented and fully renovated. In parallel we started rehearsing for a new production by our acting ensemble - "Not by Bread Alone" - and, at a later stage, began training deaf and blind individuals as waiters.
December 2007
The Na Laga'at Center opened to the public with its new show "Not by Bread Alone". Alongside the theater, we opened "Kapish" café, offering light meals served by deaf and hearing impaired waiters who invite the guests to communicate beyond words, and "Blackout", a restaurant where blind and seeing impaired waiters accompany the guests to a meal in total darkness.
December 2007-Present
Since opening the Nalaga'at Center, we hosted more than 200,000 visitors from Israel and abroad, who took part in our activities and went through a transformative experience. In March 2011 we celebrated the 500th performance of "Not by Bread Alone", including performances at the LIFT Festival in London and the Festival of Music and Theatre in Uijeongb, South Korea. New international tours are planned for 2011-2012.
Shortly after opening the center we established a training program designed to train deaf and blind waiters in theater arts. With their participation, we initiated in 2009 the children's theatrical sign-language workshop "Give a Sign".
In November 2009, a new multi-cultural group of deaf-blind acting students composed of Jews, Muslims and Samaritans was set up.
In 2010 we introduced the children's performance "Prince-Rooster", starring a number of our deaf and blind waiters, and additional sign language workshops and a workshop of clay sculpturing in the dark. In 2011 we began rehearsing for a new production named "The Banquet" performed by deaf, blind and deaf-blind actors.
In order to extend the impact of the Nalaga'at Center, we are currently in the process of developing new training programs, workshops and courses based on the Nalaga'at values tailored to different audiences from Israel and abroad.
We believe we need, can and deserve to change and improve our reality!