There will be a captioned performance of  ’Sundowner’ on Saturday, 12 May 2012 at 2pm and a captioned performance of ‘The Laramie Project’ on Thursday, 24 May 2012 at 7.30pm.

Both performances will take place in the Fairfax Studio at the Arts Centre.

For further details about the productions and also for information on how to book, please see:

Sundowner:

http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/event.aspx?id=2962

The Laramie Project:

http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/event.aspx?id=2934

It has just been announced that the first captioned performance in the world to offer patrons theatre captioning on smartphone and tablet devices will be Andrew McKinnon’s production of ‘Dickens’ Women’ at The Playhouse at the Canberra Theatre Centre!

The Captioning Studio’s new, patented GoTheatrical! App, which was launched by Federal Senator Jan McLucas only last week, will be available for patrons at the matinee (2pm) performance of ‘Dickens Women’  on Saturday, 25 February 2012.

“We’re delighted that both Andrew McKinnon and the Canberra Theatre Centre are sharing in this world-first for theatre captioning”, says Nari Jennings, co-founder of The Captioning Studio.  ”The Canberra Theatre Centre was the first venue in the world to offer patrons GoTheatrical! captioning on plasma screens and Andrew McKinnon was the first producer to offer theatre captioning of a production in every venue on its tour, back in 2007.”

Some iPod Touches will be available at the theatre for the use of patrons.  Also, patrons may choose to bring their own smartphones and tablet devices along too.

The GoTheatrical! App is available now from the App Store.  Users need to simply search for ‘GoTheatrical’ in order to download the App.

Theatre captions will also be available on plasma screens, positioned at either side of the stage.

More venues will be offering the GoTheatrical! App to their patrons in the coming weeks, with details to be announced very soon!

For information on how to book tickets for the captioned performance of Dickens’ Women in Canberra:

http://www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au/site/what-is-on.php?task=detail&id=0175

The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre

Tuesday 7 February 2012

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting, and to pay my respects to their elders past and present.

Thank you Joy [Joy Burch, ACT Minister for the Arts and Minister Community Services] and I acknowledge your hard work in supporting people with disability and carers in the ACT.

I’d also like to recognise Shane Rattenbury, Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly as well as Dean Barton-Smith, Chair of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO).

And thank you to The Captioning Studio for having me here today to launch Go-Theatrical!

Minister Macklin is very sorry that she is unable to be here but she has asked me to convey her congratulations and thanks to you on your tremendous achievement.

If there is any need to explain why we should all be thrilled to be here this morning, it is surely best told by the people who have already experienced The Captioning Studio’s work.

Like Rosslyn Werner, a South Australian theatregoer with hearing impairment who said after seeing a GoTheatrical! captioned performance;

For the first time in years … I did not miss a single word of a performance …With the magic of captions, theatre came alive and accessible again.

Or the architect with hearing impairment, who had been to a conference:

I’m over the moon …this is the first time, believe it or not, that I’ve been in a room, a conference, a lecture theatre, a seminar, a workshop, and I’ve actually understood everything the speakers have said.

What fantastic endorsements.

And today we are taking it a step further, with The Captioning Studio’s latest development, enabling people who are deaf or hearing impaired to access live captions of theatre performances on smart phones and tablets.

Technology like this builds on the Australian Government’s commitment to ensure that all Australians can participate in our community.

That disability must not be a barrier to being included.

The ideal of an inclusive society is one we should all embrace.

But having an ideal is one thing.

We need the sorts of practical measures that we are launching today to make it happen.

That is why I am particularly pleased to be associated with fantastic developments like the Go-Theatrical! app.

It is why the Government has committed to funding, some $500,000, to improve access to cinemas for people who are visually or hearing impaired.

This will mean captions and audio description are available on 242 screens in cinemas around the country by the end of 2014.

Similarly, it is why we have provided $1 million for playback devices, DAISY players and audio navigators, to be made available for loan to people with print disability through public libraries across Australia.

The goal of effective, practical reform for people with disability has driven the historic reforms that marked last year as a watershed one for people with disability in our country.

Our government announced we would begin preparing for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

This is a truly historic initiative.

The Prime Minister described it as a scheme that will stand alongside Medicare and the age pension as a fundamental strand of Australia’s social compact.

We committed immediately to lay the foundations for the new scheme.

The road ahead is long and complex.

But the NDIS will fundamentally change the way disability care and support is provided in Australia. It is a significant opportunity for all governments, present and future, to pursue major reform to the disability services sector and to improve the lives of thousands of Australians with disability, their families and carers.

This will finally end the cruel lottery that means the services people with disability get depend on where they live, what disability they have and how they got that disability.

The NDIS is the culmination of years of dedication and work by many, many people.

People like Nari Jennings, co-founder of The Captioning Studio, here today….who have a passion for achieving true access and inclusion for people with disability.

The new scheme is being introduced on the back of our National Disability Strategy which we launched early last year.

The Strategy is a ten year road map for practical reform.

A strategy that guide all levels of government to bring about change in mainstream services and programs as well as community infrastructure.

This kind of change is pivotal to giving people with disability the same opportunities as other Australians – a quality education, adequate health care, a job where possible, as well as access to buildings, transport and social activities.

The strategy is both about providing practical support, and about changing mainstream community attitudes.

So that no opportunities are closed to people with disability.

We put it in place after two years of consultations.

As the final report on those consultations noted, the clear picture to emerge was that people with disability may be present in the community, but most do not enjoy full participation in it.

Participants observed consistently that they should not require such extraordinary effort to live an ordinary life……to attend a conference, to catch public transport, to go on a holiday…..

And of course, enjoy a night out at the theatre!

I would like to thank and congratulate those theatre administrators and those theatre companies who have embraced the need to provide for people with disability.

Who realise it is such an easy thing to do.

Well, taking it up is easy. And the technology we are launching today will be remarkably easy to use.

It was not so easy to conceive, develop and implement! It took talent, it took research, it took acumen. Above all, it took will.

Nari Jennings had that will……

This morning would not be complete without paying tribute to Nari.

Acquainted with hearing loss through her own family, she was inspired to ensure people could share the joy of theatre after her first experience of opera at the age of 16.

An Aunt took her to La Boheme.

She determined to ensure that other people could share the unforgettable experience of that wonderful opera.

We all owe her our thanks and our gratitude, for her generosity and her talent.

Thanks to her, many people who would not otherwise be able to do so, will be able to share with their fellow Australians many wonderful nights at the theatre.

Thank you Nari.

It is entirely appropriate that the Australian Human Rights Commission recognised you and your team with the Human Rights Business Award last year.

I have much pleasure in launching Go-Theatrical! and asking Alex French from The Captioning Studio to tell us more about this exciting new technology.

World-first Technology Brings Theatre Alive for People with Hearing Impairment

Tuesday, 07 February 2012 14:20

World-first technology will enable people who are deaf or hearing impaired to enjoy live theatre by accessing live captions on their mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Jan McLucas and ACT Minister for the Arts, Joy Burch today helped launch the GoTheatrical! mobile app, developed by Australian company The Captioning Studio, at the Canberra Theatre Centre.

Senator McLucas said this revolutionary technology will complement current captioning displayed on screens at the side of the stage at select venues, giving people with a hearing impairment the same choices as other theatre-goers.

“Enjoying a night out at the theatre is something that many of us don’t think twice about but the fact is there are many Australians who haven’t been able to enjoy this popular past time,” said Senator McLucas.

“This new technology builds on the Australian Government’s commitment to ensuring everyone can participate fully in the community, regardless of ability.

“The Australian Government has already committed to $500,000 to improve access to cinemas for people who are deaf, blind, or visually or hearing impaired, which will see captions and audio description available in 242 screens by the end of 2014.

“We have provided $1 million for playback devices to improve access to print material in a digital format for people with print disability at selected public libraries across the country, with almost 1,259 playback devices (DAISY players and audio navigators) already in selected public libraries.”

The initiative is another step towards reaching the objectives of the National Arts and Disability Strategy agreed to by the Australian, State and Territory Governments.

Ms Burch congratulated The Captioning Studio for developing this cutting-edge technology.

“The Captioning Studio has made a significant contribution to assisting people with hearing impairment,” Ms Burch said.

“In December last year The Captioning Studio won the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2011 Human Rights Business Award for their contribution to inclusion of people with a hearing loss, and in August were presented with the Best Event Captioning in Australia Award at the 2011 National Captioning Awards, hosted by Deafness Forum Australia.

“They have also launched a national campaign to help promote captioning for people with hearing loss as well as the GoTheatrical! Kids initiative for 2012, making live theatre accessible to school children aged Year 3 to 12 who are deaf or hearing impaired.

“All Australians should be proud that we are leading the way in improving access to live theatre for people who are deaf or hearing impaired, and it is wonderful to see this new technology being rolled out here in the ACT.”

The Captioning Studio and The Canberra Theatre Centre are delighted to announce today that a special event will be held on Tuesday, 7 February 2012 at 10am to celebrate the launch of The Captioning Studio’s new technology GoTheatrical! Mobile!

The Federal Minister for Disability Reform, the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP, will officially launch the world-first theatre captioning application, with the ACT Minister for the Arts & Disability, Joy Burch, hosting the event.

“We are incredibly excited about GoTheatrical! Mobile technology”, says Alex French, co-founder of The Captioning Studio.  ”It gives patrons an opportunity to choose how they would like to access their captions – whether it be open captions (available on plasma or LCD screens) or closed captions (on tablet or mobile devices).”

“We are absolutely delighted that the Federal Minister for Disability Reform, the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP, will be officially launching the technology!”

The event will be held at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre.

Invitations are being sent out today.

More details coming soon!

The Go-Theatrical!™ theatre captioning technology and service launched in Australia in 2005 and has since taken the Australian theatre industry by storm.   It is now the only theatre captioning technology used by Australian venues and production companies, including the Sydney Opera House and the Arts Centre in Melbourne.   In August this year, GoTheatrical!™ theatre captioning won the 2011 Best Event Captioning Award at the National Captioning Awards hosted by Deafness Forum Australia.

Nari Jennings, co-founder of The Captioning Studio, comments: “We’re excited about the launch of our latest theatre captioning technology.  By offering simultaneous open and closed captioning in this way, patrons with a hearing loss have a choice as to how they access their theatre captions, and that’s just fantastic!”

The new service will enable patrons to download the Go-Theatrical! Mobile™ app to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and simply select the captioned performance they are attending fr om a list of available shows.

The app includes some extremely clever features which make the technology suitable for the live theatre environment.   It also ensures that captions can be viewed only by patrons in the relevant venue.

GoTheatrical! Mobile™ is already attracting interest within the Australian theatre industry, with several venues planning to offer the service in 2012.  Details of participating venues, as well as information on how to download the app, will be announced shortly.

The Go-Theatrical!™ technology was originally patented to cover theatre captioning on television-type display screens, which are positioned either on-stage or to the side of the stage.   “We are thrilled to have patented and now developed Go-Theatrical!™ for use on mobile devices too.   Australia can be proud of the fact that it is leading the world in theatre captioning access”, says Nari.

For more details, contact Nari Jennings (08) 8463 1639.

We extend a very special thank you to Kay Jamieson, Executive Producer of Brink Productions, and Brian Coghlan, Venue Services Manager, Frankston Arts Centre for participating in the panel discussions and sharing their experiences of the GoTheatrical! technology and service.  Kay also showed  images of  the GoTheatrical! screens on set, giving venues some ideas for suitable positioning of screens.

Thank you also to State Theatre Company of South Australia, who gave us permission to film an actor on stage with captions being cued to screen, enabling us to show this footage to Conference delegates.

The APACA Conference was a wonderful opportunity for the GoTheatrical! team to meet in person some of the venue staff with whom we work remotely.

And sincere thanks also to the APACA conference organising team – Rick and Jenny – for making us feel so welcome.

And as an added bonus, the lovely balmy weather in Perth was wonderful too!

Perth International Arts Festival warmly congratulates our caption provider The Captioning Studio on their big win at The Deafness Forum 2011 National Captioning Awards in Sydney last night.

The Captioning Studio took out the award for Best Event Captioning in Australia for its GoTheatrical! Theatre Captioning service.

19 August 2011

The Captioning Studio Wins National Captioning Award For GoTheatrical! Theatre Captioning

The Captioning Studio has been awarded the Best Event Captioning in Australia Award for its GoTheatrical! Theatre Captioning service at the Deafness Forum 2011 National Captioning Awards  held in Sydney last night.

“We are thrilled to have received this prestigious Award”, says Nari Jennings, co-founder of The Captioning Studio.  “This achievement is without doubt a team effort between ourselves and the Australian venues offering GoTheatrical! theatre captioning for their patrons.  We work with an inspiring team of venues and theatre companies who are as passionate as we are about captioning inclusion for people with a hearing loss!”

With 4.5 million Australians having a hearing loss, The Captioning Studio has recently launched its Inclusion In The Arts Through Captioning campaign to promote awareness of the existence of the service.  “While to date we have been promoting theatre captioning to members of deaf and hearing impaired organisations, we have realised that there are still millions of Australians who simply don’t know that the theatre captioning service is available and they are missing out on some fantastic theatre performances as a result”, said Nari.

As a part of this awareness campaign, a Theatre Captioning poster has been designed.  Australian Hearing, one of the largest hearing service providers in the world, is distributing the poster to its branches for display, as is the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre.  The Returned & Services League of Australia is also showing their support, promoting the service on their various websites and distributing information to their membership.   The free newspaper ‘The Senior’ has also published an article about theatre captioning which has generated a lot of interest from the public.  Electrical retailer Harvey Norman is showing its support by sponsoring some Caption Equipment Kits, comprising 50″ plasmas and laptops, enabling venues to provide theatre captioning with no cost for equipment.

“This is just the beginning of what we believe will be an absolute revolution in the way live theatre is accessed by people in Australia.  As the population ages, we will see even greater numbers of people who will be depending on captioning for their inclusion in the theatrical experience”, says Nari.

The Deafness Forum Captioning Awards were held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney last night.  Other Award Winners were:

Roma Wood Community Award: Wayne Hawkins

Best DVD Captioning: Warner Home Movies

Most Consistent Use of Captions: Javier Arriaga

Best Promotion of Captioning: Ai-Media

Best TV Captioning Pay TV:   Fox Sports for Hyundai A-League

Best New Captioning Initiative:  ABC iView and the Australian Communications Exchange

Best Free to Air TV captioning: Seven Network

Members’ Choice: ABC iView

For More Details, Contact:

Nari Jennings

E: Nari.jennings@captioningstudio.com

W:  www.theatrecaptioning.com.au

T: 08 8463 1639

She also commented that it was disappointing that no theatre captioning is available anywhere in South Australia.

Ms Pamela Foulkes, CEO of the State Theatre Company of SA, has responded to this.   Her letter was published as follows in The Sunday Mail dated 3 July 2011:

Action On Captioning:

I am writing in response to the letter you published last week from Karen Heapy regarding captioning of live performances (“Theatre is for everyone”, Sunday Mail, June 26).

I thought that Karen and your other readers might like to know that captioning has come to South Australia.  The system, developed in Australia by The Captioning Studio, projects the text of the play on to flat screens on either side of the stage in real time during the performance.

The Adelaide Festival Centre has purchased the necessary equipment, thanks to a grant from Arts SA.  The State Theatre Company is now offering one Captioned Peforrmance for each play.  Our first trial of the process was at a Wednesday matinee of David Mamet’s comedy November in May and the feedback, especially from elderly patrons, was very positive.  Patrons for whom English is a second language also find the service helpful.  So we would certainly encourage other companies performing at the Adelaide Festival Centre to take advantage of the equipment for their seasons.

There  are costs involved and we are seeking a sponsor for this service to enable us to increase the number of captioned performances we can offer each season.

State Theatre Company also offers Described Performances for the visually handicapped and a range of other access prgorams in line with our commitment to making the live theatre experience accessible to all sections of our community.

Information about the Captioned Performances and our other Access Programs can be found on the Access page of our web site.

Pamela Foulkes, Chief Executive Officer, State Theatre Company of SA