Theatr Iolo raise awareness of Audio Described shows for blind and partially sighted children with new film.

To raise awareness of audio description in theatres and to explain to children what an audio described performance will be like, Theatr Iolo have made a short film showing a child enjoying a Touch Tour and an Audio Described show. This film can be viewed here; https://youtu.be/YAODFuusHo4

Find out what happens at a Theatr Iolo audio described performance

Theatr Iolo’s vision is for a society in which all children can feel empowered and inspired. They create theatre shows for children that tour Wales, the UK and internationally. They want all children from babies to teenagers and their adults to trust that their experience of a Theatr Iolo production will be of the highest quality and that they will feel included.

For the last six years, Theatr Iolo have focussed on increasing the access services they offer with all productions, to become more inclusive. Through one of these initiatives, they developed their own internal skills and knowledge to develop more audio description services for blind or partially sighted children and their adults. 

To work within limited budgets and rising costs, Theatr Iolo paid for their Executive Director, Michelle Perez to be trained in audio description delivery in 2022, so that they could increase the amount of live audio described shows on offer for each tour.

For every Theatr Iolo production, they now offer audio flyers, audio introductions and touch tours and up to five audio described shows on each tour.

Michelle explains; “I have loved finding out more about audio description and how it helps blind and partially sighted people to access theatre. I feel really passionate about the difference a Touch Tour and an audio introduction can make to people and have seen it first-hand. Training to be an audio describer has helped me as an individual and us as a company to prioritise access and inclusivity at the heart of what we do. We now want to increase the awareness of this service and help more and more audience members to enjoy our shows fully.”

 According to the NHS, there are more than 2 million people living with sight loss in the UK. Of these, around 340,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted. On top of this, there are also many people with an eye condition who are at risk of developing sight loss in the future. 1 in 5 people will live with sight loss in their lifetime and every day 250 people start to lose their sight in the UK. This is equivalent to one person every six minutes.

 There are currently 112,000 people living with sight loss in Wales, and it’s predicted that this number will reach 133,000 by 2032. There are approximately two children per 1000 with some form of sight loss in the UK. Further to this, a high proportion of children have additional disabilities in combination with some sight loss.

 Even with all of these stats, there is still a lack of audience development in this area and little awareness of audio description in theatres.  Theatr Iolo are on a mission to increase the awareness of the audio services that they and the rest of the theatre industry offer. They have now launched a new film starring Corben, a partially sighted child from Cardiff, who got to experience his first ever Touch Tour and Audio Described performance at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff recently.  

Corben, aged 9 said; “This was my first visit to see a theatre show and I really liked it. I really enjoyed being on the stage, that was really cool. I loved seeing the badger puppet up close too. The audio description was helpful, because it gave me detail I would have otherwise missed.”

Theatr Iolo hope that this film will help to prepare children and adults to know what to expect in a Touch Tour and an audio described show and help to spread the word to people who might benefit from this service. This awareness film is also to highlight that Audio Description cannot be heard by other audience members and does not impact their own experience of the show.

 Theatre audio description enables blind and partially sighted people to experience and enjoy a performance on an equal basis, with friends and family or independently. It takes the form of a live verbal commentary which provides information on the visual elements of a production as it unfolds. It describes action that is essential to an understanding of the play’s story, as well as other visual information such as the style and design of a production, facial expressions and visual jokes that a blind or partially sighted member of the audience might otherwise miss. The description is delivered live in the gaps between the dialogue by a describer, broadcast using infrared, radio or WiFi and picked up by the audience member wearing a special lightweight receiver, in the form of headphones provided by the theatre.

 Theatr Iolo focus the audio description service they offer in their live theatre tours to the target age of the child in the audience. However, any adults who also require the service will also be able to enjoy the same service as children do.

 To find out more about access at Theatr Iolo shows; www.theatriolo.com/access-for-all

For listings of all audio described performances across Wales and the UK: https://vocaleyes.co.uk/whats-on and  https://www.hynt.co.uk/en/whats-on