Deaf West Theatre Company is a North Hollywood, California based cultural institution serving as a model for deaf theater worldwide. Deaf West Theatre Inc., was founded to directly improve and enrich the cultural lives of the 1.2 million deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who live in the Los Angeles area. Noted for being the first professional resident Sign Language Theatre in the western half of the United States, Deaf West Theatre productions, actors and directors have won more than 80 theatre awards for artistic merit.