Captioned performance what is it

Specific seats are allocated in the theatre so the theatregoer can see the captions clearly. What is captioning? Captioned performances are aimed at people who are Deaf and Hearing Impaired. Where is the captioned unit? Are there different types of captioning? Captioning has meant a big growth in deaf or hard of hearing theatregoers, for whom theatre is accessible like never before.

Stagetext also offers deaf and access awareness training to theatre staff, including front of house staff, to help make a theatre visit more enjoyable and less stressful for deaf people. Clear communication and a friendly face work wonders. It's great to see deaf and hard of hearing people talking passionately about shows with family and friends, and even daring to say what utter rubbish they've just seen.

There are still problems, though. Only one or two shows are captioned in a run, so you are restricted to attending those performances. And some theatres frankly couldn't give a damn about equality for deaf people, especially if they can fill a West End theatre with a popular musical. Talking of musicals, some are highly amplified these days, but amplification does not mean clarity.

Captions would be really useful, as well as providing you with those silent sing-along moments. I speak as a person who suffered a severe hearing loss at the age of five. I found theatre impossible to hear and understand. Before captioning, I just went to a few musicals that I tentatively knew, but I gave up on drama. A computer translates the phonetic symbols into captions almost instantaneously and displays them on a laptop or on a large display screen.

A slight delay may occur because of the captioner's need to hear and enter the words and the computer's processing time. Real-time captioning can be used for programs that do not have written scripts or captions such as: lectures, classes, congressional or council meetings, news programs, and non-broadcast meetings, such as those of professional associations. Remote real-time captions are produced at a remote location and then transmitted to the site where the program is taking place.

For example, in a lecture hall an instructor can talk into a microphone that is connected via telephone lines to a captioner in a different city.