Audio Description: Bridging the Gap for Blind Theatre Goers

Blindness has never been a barrier for me when going to the theatre. For as long as I can remember I’ve loved both getting up on stage and watching other performers. I don’t feel like being blind has diminished my experience and I will often fill in the gaps using my imagination when I’m watching a show. However there are definitely performances that I find more accessible than others. Shows that rely heavily on non-visual communication such as mime can be very difficult for me to follow. This is where live audio description can really bridge the access gap for blind theatre goers.

Audio description is a narration track that describes visual elements of media to blind people, so that we can access it fully. Audio description describes things like the setting, movements of the characters, important objects and text that appears. It is typically presented as a pre-recorded track that is mixed with the original audio. However in some settings, such as the theatre, live audio description is needed.

Last week I went with a friend to watch Hamilton. Like so many people around the globe I’ve fallen in love with the soundtrack, finding myself humming it on the way to class. So being able to go to the theatre to see it was an incredible experience. But what made it even more special was the inclusion of a touch tour before the show followed by live audio description provided by VocalEyes.

VocalEyes believe that blind people have as much right to experience the UK’s art and culture as sighted people. To achieve this mission they provide audio description for theatre, museums and heritage sites as well as training and consultancy. They have even set the Guinness World Record for the largest number of blind and partially sighted people attending an audio described theatre performance, with 168 attendees!

I was welcomed to the Victoria Palace theatre by friendly staff who offered me a braille programme and directed my friend and I to some seats where we could wait for the touch tour to begin. Touch tours allow blind people to go on stage before a performance begins and handle the props and costumes that will be used. We gathered on the stage, eagerly listening to Jenny and Tony (our audio describers for the night) describe the configuration of the stage and how various elements of it would be used during the show.

We were then able to interact with several cast members, including Jon Robyns who plays the role of King George. They took the time to explain their costumes to us, talking us through how they can vary these throughout the performance by adding or removing layers. I was also able to try on part of a costume myself!

The performance itself is hard to put into words. The cast were engaging and full of energy. The music felt like it was inside of me, drawing me closer to the characters on the stage. And finally, during the final song I rubbed tears from my eyes as characters both alive and dead reached out to one another.

I was full of emotion because of their story and the journey they had taken me on. But also because I was truly able to share that journey with them through the magic of audio description.