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Mum Puppettheatre honored by Creative Access with 'Accessibility Beyond the Ramp' Award

For Immediate Release: July 31, 2002

Philadelphia, PA - On June 1, 2002, Mum Puppettheatre was among the first "Accessibility Beyond the Ramp" honorees recognized by Creative Access. One of nine honorees, Mum Puppettheatre was recognized for its continued actions to "dismantle communication barriers to Deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing alike." Mum Puppettheatre is truly proud and honored to be part of this flourishing and long-awaited development. Since 1999, Mum Puppettheatre has provided American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation at every performance and post-show discussion of its family favorite, The Velveteen Rabbit. ASL interpretation extends beyond the performance and into the lobby where patrons also have access to box office and house management through interpreters.

The overwhelming success of that first venture "beyond the ramp" has made "access to the arts" part of Mum Puppettheatre's vision for the future. "But we need to do more than what we've done," says artistic director and founder Robert Smythe. "We need to make sure that anybody who comes here has access to what we do, has access to the power of the imagination," explains Smythe, "It's our job to continue to enable theatre to be a two-way street." With a strong community partnership and like-minded visions for the future, Mum Puppettheatre and Creative Access will be able to do just that.

The Gala Celebration of "Ten Years in Pictures" marked the first annual presentation of "Accessibility Beyond the Ramp" honorees. All of the honorees were credited with achieving historically unprecedented standards for access to the arts. "Philadelphia is being recognized by many as a model of arts accessibility in the state, if not the nation, " says Creative Access founder Carol Finkle.

With a mission to bring their constituency "out of the shadows and into the mainstream life of our communities," Creative Access has worked for ten years to make the wealth of Philadelphia arts and culture available to the Deaf and hard of hearing people in the region.

For more information, call Mum Puppettheatre at 215-925-8686 or visit us online at www.mumpuppet.org.

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