the opportunity for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the area with access to experience and participate in professional theatre, which otherwise would not be possible. New York Deaf Theatre New York Deaf Theatre was founded in 1979. Deaf actors in the New York City area wanted an opportunity to perform in American Sign Language, which was not possible anywhere in New York City at the time. The group came together to form the New York Deaf Theatre, which today is the longest running deaf theatre company in New York City. Common themes Themes that are common to ASL literature genres typically reflect the shared life experiences of the American Deaf community. Todd Czubek and Janey Greenwald suggest that using what they call a "Deaf lens" to analyze literature allow a reader of an ASL text to recognize these themes and understand the experiences of the Deaf community. Deaf individuals are commonly born to hearing parents, and therefore are not exposed to the Deaf community and culture in their home environments. This results in many Deaf individuals being unaware that they are a member of a minority culture unless and until they begin attending a residential Deaf institute, where they begin to develop a sense of self and learn the customs and values of the Deaf community. Teachers and older students tell stories to the younger or newer students as a means of helping them develop their Deaf identities. This experience is echoed through one common theme in ASL Literature, that of "coming home". It is in these spaces that Deaf individuals find others like themselves and develop a family away from home, where they feel a sense of belonging. As such, some works of ASL Literature emphasize the importance of developing this home away from home. One example that represents the theme of coming home is Clayton Valli's poem "Cocoon Child", in which a child begins by wandering aimlessly, then closes her eyes and closes off her body by curling up and clenching her fists to represent how the Deaf community are cut off from the world, and then is approached by others who help the child leave her 'cocoon' and transform by unfolding into the world representing that she has now gained a sense of self. Another example is Debbie Rennie's poem "Black Hole: Colors ASL". It depicts a person climbing a ladder, with uncertainty about what