ONE of life’s little pleasures is heading off to the theatre for a live show.
Hearing loss can mean withdrawing from such pleasures, but 21st-century technology now means those with hearing problems can enjoy the wonderful world of the theatre once more.
Theatre captioning is now being offered at selected performances in many theatres around Australia.
Better Hearing Australia Canberra convenor Sue Daw is a keen supporter of the service.
“I used to love going to plays,” Sue said.
“Looking back, I now realise I stopped going as my hearing gradually got worse.
“I remember going to see a Williamson play and finding the audience was laughing when I missed the punch line.
“I felt like I was the only person in the theatre who didn’t get the joke.
“Well, all that has changed, thanks to captioning.
“If you are lucky enough to have captioned live performances at a theatre near you, go along and enjoy the experience.
“You won’t regret it. I can’t wait to see the next captioned production.”
Similar to subtitles on TV, theatre captioning includes extra information such as musical descriptions and other sound effects.
Using GoTheatrical captioning technology, captions are displayed on large plasma or LCD screens at the side of the stage.
And the Canberra Theatre Centre has gone one step further, becoming what is believed to be the first venue in the world to offer simultaneous captioning on plasma screens and hand-held devices at all its captioned performances, giving patrons a choice of caption display.
The theatre captioning service is available free to patrons.
When booking tickets, simply notify the box office of your need for the captioning service, which will ensure you are allocated seats close to the caption screens.
To see which theatres offer captioning, visit www.theatrecaptioning.com.au
– The Captioning Studio (08) 8463-1639, email info@?captioningstudio.com