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February 4, 2008 - For 29 years, the internationally recognized Theater By The Blind has worked to develop blind and vision-impaired talent for the theater, television, and film.  But the company, while maintaining its commitment to vision-impaired artists, is breaking down some metaphorical walls. And its new name is clear evidence that they’re doing exactly that.  Now dubbed Theater Breaking Through Barriers, Ike Schambelan, Co-Artistic Director, said, “We must include all artists with disabilities in our work.”

He added, “As baby boomers age, more and more Americans will be dealing with disability. 52,000,000 already do.” Schambelan went on to note that only two percent of characters on television exhibit a disability—an obviously disproportionate representation. But he has a viable solution.  TBTB is going “to get the reality of our rich, independent lives in front of an audience.”

And they’ve already been hard at it.  Last year the theater produced A Midsummer Night’s Dream featuring an actress in a wheelchair. The New York Times didn’t just notice, they suggested that “a most delightful extra layer of meaning in the production” was added.  TBTB also produced Rules of Charity, written by a disabled playwright, John Belluso. Again, the Times called it a “dark, scalding play (in) a sharp New York premiere.”

TBTB’s goal is to become the home-base theater for all people with disabilities, including actors and audiences.  They’re well on their way and, as the adage goes, the best is yet to come.