Deaf News: Stagetext calls for arts venues to better include deaf people

The arts charity Stagetext, which provides captioning services to theatres, museums and galleries, says more should be done to welcome and include deaf people in the arts.

The comments come as the organisation celebrates Captioning Awareness Week, which runs until Sunday and sees venues promoting greater access to the arts for deaf people.

Melanie Sharpe, CEO of Stagetext, said: “Arts venues should be proud about what they offer people with hearing loss.

“Instead, too many see it as an add-on service, with often little information on their websites about what’s available.”

It follows a report by the charity last month, which found that only 19% of theatres audited list captioned performances on their websites.

Melanie went on to add: “Providing services such as captioned performances changes lives.

“We often hear of stories from our users who feel socially isolated because they can no longer enjoy the arts. It doesn’t just impact them, it impacts their family and friendship circles too.

“Captioned performances at theatres, museums and galleries gives them an opportunity to enjoy those experiences again with friends and family.”

Using the hashtag #FirstEver, Stagetext is also encouraging audience members to share their first experience of a captioned performance.

Sarah Neale – who is profoundly deaf – will be seeing Mamma Mia with her six-year-old daughter on Saturday, in what will be their first captioned performance together.

“I was very disappointed that my local theatre wasn’t cooperative to provide captions for the panto Cinderella which is my daughter favourite character. I wanted to do something with my daughter and was given the wonderful opportunity this week from StageText to watch Mamma Mia,” Sarah told The Limping Chicken.

“Captioned performances are so important as it helps to gain the full programme of the script so that you feel like you are included in the play,” she added.

In addition to theatres across the UK putting on captioned performances, this week also sees Stagetext launch of the UK’s first captioning archive, after the charity received a £95,000 grant from the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund earlier this year.

The project, titled Captions Speak Louder, will chronicle the history of Stagetext as the organisation that brought open captioning to UK theatres, using a touring exhibition, an online gallery, and a programme of public talks.

Speaking when funding for the archive was granted, Stagetext founders Peter Pullan and Merfyn Williams said an archive for the charity “will enable many different people to engage with its work”.

More information about Captioning Awareness Week and the Captions Speak Louder archive can be found on Stagetext’s website.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.