Captioned Performances

In addition to your regular BSL interpreted programme you may wish to consider offering captioning.

What is captioning?

Captioning is similar to television subtitling and gives deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people access to live performance. The actors' words appear on a display unit (or units) on or near the stage at the same time as they are spoken or sung. Speaker names, sound effects and offstage noises are also shown.

Who benefits from captioning?

Captioned performances are particularly helpful for:

• Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people who want to access plays in English.
• People whose hearing is not as sharp as it used to be.
• Anyone who has difficulty following strong accents.
• Students who are studying the text of a play.
• Foreign tourists and people whose first language is not English.

How does it work?

A qualified captioner prepares the script in advance so that it mirrors the rhythm and flow of the dialogue. S/he works closely with production team to ensure that any amendments or cuts to the script are incorporated. The whole process can take at least 50-60 hours, often more. The captioner then operates the captions as the action happens on stage.

How do I follow the captions?

The full text is displayed on the caption unit, but you do not always have to read every single word to get the meaning. People who have seen several captioned performances tend to develop their own way of reading the captions. Some like to read the bottom line where the latest text appears; others like to take in more text with a quick glance at several lines.

Where do I sit?

When booking tickets for a captioned performance, always ask the Box Office which seats are most suitable for reading the captions. Usually the captions can be seen by the whole theatre so you can sit with your family and friends.

What kind of productions are captioned?

STAGETEXT captions a wide range of performances across the UK including dramas, comedies, musicals and pantomimes. In 2006/07 it will be captioning over 200 performances in more than 70 venues, an increase of 70% over last year. As well as several touring productions, deaf people have enjoyed many popular musicals including Guys and Dolls, Mary Poppins, Chicago, The Lion King and The Producers, and plays by new and established writers at theatres around the UK.

Since captioning was pioneered in the UK in May 2000, thousands of deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people have been able to return to the theatre after many years' absence; others have been able to enjoy the experience, often for the first time.

Investment

More and more theatres are now recognising the benefits of captioning and investing in their own equipment, using either a local captioner trained by STAGETEXT, or simply booking a STAGETEXT captioner. This is more cost-effective and in the long run will enable theatres to offer more accessible performances for their deaf, deafened and hard of hearing patrons. Theatres which offer the service in-house include the Royal Shakespeare Company; Chicken Shed; Plymouth Theatre Royal; English Touring Opera; New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; Library Theatre, Manchester; Alhambra Theatre, Bradford; and Clwyd Theatre Cymru, Mold.

Scottish hub

The Scottish Arts Council and the ADAPT Trust have recently funded the establishment of a captioning hub whereby venues are sharing captioning equipment and using local captioners trained by STAGETEXT. The equipment has been funded by the Gannochy Trust and the Hugh Fraser Foundation and the first performances are taking place from February 2006.

Ambassador schemes

Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people themselves have a crucial role to play in getting more theatres to take captioning on board. Many shows have come about following intensive lobbying by enthusiastic ambassador groups of deaf people determined to see captioning in their local theatre. For more information on the ambassador scheme, please contact Deepa Shastri, STAGETEXT Project Officer (deepa@stagetext.org) or Lynn Jackson, Communications Officer (lynn@stagetext.org).

Further information

To search for captioned performances, use our performance search page and select "Captioned" from the "Access Type" option.

STAGETEXT
First Floor
54 Commercial Street
London
E1 6LT
Telephone: 020 7377 0540
Textphone: 020 7247 7801
Fax: 020 7247 5622
SMS: 07781 489 770
E-Mail: enquiries@stagetext.org
Web: www.stagetext.org

STAGETEXT is regularly funded by Arts Council England. Charity No. 1084300.

Royal Shakespeare Company, Pat Collcutt, Marketing Manager, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Avon CV37 6BB
Tel: 020 7256 7504 ,br>Mobile: 07714 243 868
Fax: 020 7382 7273
E-Mail: access@rsc.org.uk
Web: www.rsc.org.uk