Accommodation Friendly Performances are Good for the Community
I was recently asked if I would help my local children’s theater get up and running with being able to offer Audio Description, which would help blind and low vision patrons know what was going on on-stage, when there wasn’t any dialog, intentional sound effects, music or the inherent noises that comes from moving sets pieces during scene changes, grunts or groans from actors moving on stage or using the aisles for entrances and exits or the sound of squeaky shoes and floors slats during dance numbers.
I jumped at the chance to be able to use my voice over skills for an organization that I have been involved with for 23 years. The added plus was that I could finally use some of the skills I had learned during three, week-long audio description retreats on both voicing and writing audio description.
Adaptive Theater Services
I dove right into researching what types of equipment that we would need and learning what equipment we already had. It took a lot of preparation, both in researching possible equipment we might use, based on price and knowing if it would work with what we already were using. Part of my preparation was first reading through the script from the show and making notes on where there was stage action that needed to be described or knowing where sound effects were happening that could be attributed to a particular actor if that wasn't evident from the dialogue.
Once that was accomplished, it was time to attend rehearsals, to see the show being acted out in person. Something that I hadn't thought about but found out very quickly, was that there were changes to the action and movement on stage from the Director and Choreographer. That took me two rehearsals to figure out, as I had to search the script for whether the lines or movement had been deleted all together or if they had been moved somewhere else.
Even though the Theater Technical Director was not able to secure the needed equipment to be able to describe this production, we decided to go through the motions as much as we could, and at least practice what the logistics would be once we actually had the correct equipment. One thing that we did learn, which was very cool, was that the equipment that we would eventually be using, would allow us to also accommodate patrons who are hard of hearing. We were all very excited to be able to offer that service.
I had to collaborate with the show's Director, show's Technical Director and the Stage Manager, to determine where I would sit during the performances to be able to see the action on stage but not let the audience see me. We had to let the actors know why I was sitting where I was, which was slightly off stage and where the actors would be passing through on their way off-stage, or gathering quietly awaiting an entrance on stage, so that they weren't startled by my presence.
Community Support
Even though I wasn't able to actually use my voice acting skills to help out with audio description for The SpongeBob Musical, I feel good knowing that as a theater, we are that much closer to being able to eventually offer adaptive services to the community and our patrons at our performances. As of right now, our thought is to start with one performance in each production that is accommodation-friendly. We are hoping to incorporate services for people with vision and hearing differences with accommodations for other groups, such as keeping the lights up in the theater, having a door open, not using loud sound effects, eliminating any 'smoke' effects or strobe lights. Once we see how that goes, we will go from there.
I am glad that I took the three week-long training courses in audio description. And very happy that I can help my community with my newly learned knowledge for an inclusive theater experience.
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