The slides for my presentation given to attendees of the Northern Ireland Theatre Association Access to Theatre Seminar. Monday 21st February, 2011. Covering theatre captioning with a particular emphasis on the captioning process.

1. Captioning, the whole story Lissy Lovett – Programme Manager NITA – Access To Theatre Seminar Grand Opera House, Belfast Monday 21st February 2011

2. Agenda Captioning basics The captioning process Photographs Audiences

3. Captioning Basics

4. What can you make out from this piece of spoken text? Credit – University of Manchester

5. What can you make out this time?

6. Credit – www.makesensedesign.com

7. Who uses captions? Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people who wish to access plays in English 1 in 7 of population Wide range of types & severity of hearing loss People whose hearing is not as sharp as it used to be 55% of people over the age of 60 have age-related hearing loss Hearing audiences

8. 359 people in audience 17 people booked for captioning with box office (4% of total audience) 103 people returned the card to say that they had found the captions useful (29% of total audience) CONCLUSION: Many people using captioning do not request the service The undeclared audience New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich

9. What is captioning? Preparation Captions prepared in advance by a trained captioner Delivery Speech appears as text on caption unit(s) Full text, speaker names, sound effects, music and offstage noises are shown Similarities and differences to subtitling and surtitling Outcome Makes theatre accessible to deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people

10. The captioning process

11. The captioning process

12. Formatting

13. Final formatted captions

14. Captioning challenges 3,500 to 6,000 lines per script Spelling & punctuation Research Checking spellings Foreign languages Song lyrics

15. STAGETEXT captioner at Bristol Old Vic Photo: Mike Lusmore The captioned performance

16. Technical information Unit dimensions: length 1650mm, height 335mm, depth 51mm. weight: 18kg

18. As close to the action as possible

20. Deafened actor Tim Barlow as Tybalt, prior to the captioned performance of Juliet and Her Romeo, Bristol Old Vic (April 2010). Photo: Mike Lusmore

21. Captioned performance of Les Liaisons Dangereuses New Vic Theatre Photo: Robert Day 20

22. Captioned performance of Little Women Sadler’s Wells 21

23. Captioned performance of Aladdin, The Wok ‘n’ Roll Panto New Wolsey, Ipswich. Photo: Mike Kwasniak 22

24. Transcribed post-show discussion following a captioned performance of Yellowman Hampstead Theatre 23

25. Warm-up prior to the captioned performance of Life is a Dream Donmar Warehouse Photo: Matt Humphrey 24

26. Captioned performance of Miss Saigon at the Bristol Hippodrome Captioned performance of Miss Saigon at the Bristol Hippodrome

27. Captioned performance of Hansel and Gretel Northern Stage Photo: Linda Borthwick 26

28. Gwion Wyn Jones in Oliver! With kind permission of Cameron Mackintosh Limited. Photo: Simon Annand

29. Audiences

30. Start with your existing audience Tell your audience about your access! Send letters/emails to subscribers explaining captioning Explain the services in brochures Include the dates of accessible performances on all printed materials Inform all of the box office staff about accessible performances Include a pre-show explanation about captioning on the captioning display Put an insert about access in programmes “Bring a friend” performances

31. Encouraging new audiences Discover Theatre days Added value – accessible post-show talks

32. Printed Marketing Materials Season brochure Covering letter Access guide to your venue Local newspapers & magazines Hearing loss magazines and newsletters Show posters, flyers and postcards Show programs Use logos – but give explanations too!

33. Close up of accessibility box Live Theatre’s poster campaign

35. Websites & Social Marketing

36. Examples of social marketing activity

37. Groups & Associations RNID: www.rnid.org.uk Hearing Concern LINK: www.hearingconcernlink.org National Association of Deafened People (NADP): www.nadp.org.uk National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS): www.ndcs.org.uk Royal Association for Deaf People (RAD): www.royaldeaf.org.uk BDA Sign Community (the British Deaf Association): www.bda.org.uk

38. Spreading knowledge about captioning through word of mouth Increased sense of inclusion when audiences know that other people they know will be at the performance The Sheffield Caption Support Group. Social groups & ambassadors

39. Making captioning work Making a commitment Promoting the show effectively Making sure it’s All Right On The Night! Installing & running technical equipment early Double checking position of text & caption-user seats, and audio-description equipment Customer care for audience members including awareness training for front of house staff

40. Feedback from caption users “We didn’t talk about the captions. We talked about whether or not the death throes of the performers were realistic.” “ STAGETEXT has enabled me to go to the theatre with my family once more. ” “This has opened up an entirely new world for me. The sheer delight in being able to fully understand a play is difficult to convey to a hearing person”

41. Questions & Answers

42. Contact details Lissy Lovett Programme Manager STAGETEXT First Floor, 54 Commercial St, London E1 6LT www.stagetext.org lissy@stagetext.org Tel: 020 7377 0540 Mobile: 07813 139408 Textphone: 020 7247 7801 www.twitter.com/STAGETEXT www.facebook.com/STAGETEXT www.youtube.com/STAGETEXT

43. Thank you!