© Copyright 2023
Deaf National Archive New Zealand
Deaf National Archive New Zealand
1982
The Sign Singers perform 'Oh What a Beautiful Day' broadcast on Stars on Sunday in February 1983.
1989
This TV series (Sunday Magazine) looks at some of the projects young people are getting involved in. This clip is about acting in a play about Deaf people, in which Patty Still has been teaching the hearing cast NZSL for their roles.
1982
The Sign Singers perform the hit song 'Sailing' broadcast on Stars on Sunday in May 1982. Ian Watkins, introduces the group by saying “…and I’m delighted to welcome back to the programme the deaf sign singers.”
2001
2001
Queer Nation meets a sporty lesbian with nimble fingers. Lorraine talks about her identity, involvement with Deaf sports, performing and access, emphasising that Deaf people are really no different from hearing people.
1981
The popular Sign Singers are the first act to perform at the 1981 Telethon Live at the Auckland Town Hall.
1999
1988
After Mr Moon has been teaching Van Asch Deaf Education Centre Deaf students street theatre skills, they watch a performance from the Montreal Street Theatre at the New Zealand Festival in Wellington, in preparation for staging their own live performance.
1991
2003
The first ever Wallace Williams Comedy Evening kicks off in 2003, as a fundraiser for Deaf Youth to attend the WFD Congress in Montreal, Canada.
1984
The Sign Singers tour the South Island for Deaf Awareness in 1984, and are invited to perform on ‘In South Tonight’ while in Dunedin.
1984
The Sign Singers perform at the Dunedin Deaf Club in front of Deaf members and their friends.
1964
The Governor-General Sir Bernard and Lady Fergusson visited Kelston School for the Deaf on 4 April 1964. They were entertained by swimming and gymnastics display by its deaf pupils.
1986
In November 1986, film maker Ann Andrews organised a week-long drama workshop for six 13 year olds from Kelston School for the Deaf. The workshop concluded with the play, The Magic Park, written and acted by the students.
1959
The opening of Kelston on a site in Archibald Road featured the infamous ‘Te Pakanga o Whau’ (The Battle of Whau) in 1959 where 86 deaf students acted in an outside play featuring a Māori-Pakeha battle near a big gum tree field.
1998
The infamous Deaf Marching Girls reunite 45 years later, with a Friday spent practicing before showing their routine to supporters at van Asch on the Sunday.
2016
2015
A Tu Kokiri student interviews Susie Ovens on her involvement with the infamous Deaf Sign Singers group.
1977
Written and directed by Kelston School for Deaf Children Standard 3 students, the play depicts a girl's nightmare in which she is abducted by aliens and encounters witches, Frankenstein's Monster and various other creatures.
1998
1968
1981
The Sign Singers perform the song 'I Hear Your Hand' for the Stars on Sunday programme.
1999
1959
The Battle of Whau: a drama by Kelston Deaf students for the opening ceremony of Kelston School for the Deaf, 7th November 1959.
1999
Mai Time made one of their episodes accessible in NZSL to mark Deaf Awareness Week 1999. KDEC’s sign singing choir and Patrick Thompson made an appearance along with as did Rūaumoko Marae’s kapa haka roopu.
2014
1995
1985
The Sign Singers perform ‘You’re My Sunshine’ at the 1985 Telethon.
1984
1990
The Auckland Sign Singers were invited to perform with others in a three-hour entertainment special to celebrate 1990 which was broadcast live from Bastion Point on TV One at 7.30pm.
1988
'Strangers' was a TVNZ-produced drama series, including one Deaf character played by 7-year-old Sonia Pivac. This short documentary is a brief look behind the scenes of the filming process.
1959
The Deaf Sumner School for the Deaf marching team participate in a marching competition in Auckland, 1958.
1982
The Sign Singers perform 'Harmony' broadcast on Stars on Sunday in February 1983. They are introduced in sign language, in one of the first examples of a non-Deaf person signing on prime time television.
1981
The Sign Singers perform the famous carol 'Silent Night' for the Stars on Sunday programme.
1995
1986
A Deaf Drama group perfoms 'A Visit to Kiwiland' at Kelston with supporting acts by the Sign Singers. The evening fundraised $766.00 towards the purchase of a TTY and to sponsor two pupils from Kelston to attend the World Deaf Games in Christchurch 1989.
2002
Weekend celebrations are kickstarted with a Māori Deaf kapa haka group to perform a haka powhiri. Vintage teachers such as Les Bury briefly summarise their experiences of working in Deaf education over the years.
1999
The School for the Deaf Marching Girls are invited to perform their routine at the New Zealand National Marching Championships, 45 years after the group was set-up.
1982
The Sign Singers perform the song 'Born Free' broadcast on Stars on Sunday in June 1982.
1996
1988
'Strangers' was a TVNZ-produced drama series for children, with one Deaf character played by 7-year-old Sonia Pivac. Reporter Phil Keoghan, from ‘Spot On’, interviews Sonia about being the only Deaf actor in the drama.
2000
1995
Deaf children are taught drama skills by two Deaf visitors from the UK, in preparation for their show at the opening night of the inaugural Deaf Festival, hosted by Kelston Deaf Education Centre.
1978
Susie Ovens, a 12-year-old Deaf girl, participates in ‘Star Zone’ showcasing her miming and theatre skills. Susie wins the New Zealand grand prize and a trip to Melbourne, Australia to participate in another show. At the time of her victory there were no communicators or NZSL interpreters, leaving Susie to figure out at the end of the show whether she had won!
2003
1996
Youth campers at the 1996 Summer Deaf Youth Camp in Otaki put on an entertaining evening drama show!