Rebecca A Withey: Accessible Theatre – what works best?

I very recently became an Associate Artist for Derby Theatre, a role I am very excited and pleased about. I’ve been based in Derby for almost ten years now and over that time I’ve seen how productions at the theatre have really progressed access wise.

Ten years ago if you attended an accessible show across the country, it was usually in the form of a captioned showing or a BSL interpreted one where the interpreter stood at the side of the stage throughout.

Either way, the accessible shows would take place perhaps 5 times throughout a 30 show run leaving deaf people with very few choices about which night to attend.

It was at Derby Theatre that I saw my very first show with creative captions – Graeae’s ‘Reasons to be Cheerful.’ Stylised and unique, I remember the surprise at seeing italic fonts as the song lyrics danced in front of my eyes.

It was also at Derby Theatre where I got a taste of integrated BSL where I witnessed hearing actors deliver dialogue in BSL, interpreting what was being said on stage, all the while remaining in character and getting involved with the action.

Before Christmas I supported the BSL integration of a production that was directed by Emily Howlett who is also deaf.

“Snow Dragon” was the family friendly Christmas show at the studio in Derby Theatre and the cast consisted of three hearing actors and one actor/integrated interpreter.

The show itself was truly lovely, a real gem of a show for all the family and the actors were all superb. Emily Howlett did a tremendous job utilising the comedy and movement skills of the actors to create a really visual production for both deaf and hearing audiences to enjoy.

The hearing actors incorporated simple signs into each of their songs and the BSL integrated interpreter was fully involved in the story, with a character of her own too. The director was also able to integrate BSL thoughtfully into the show as she is a deaf BSL user herself.

Every single Snow Dragon showing had BSL access, a far cry from a decade ago when we were lucky to see one accessible show a month.

Yet even saying that, I know there is more that theatres can do to be fully accessible to deaf and hard of hearing audiences. I’m a big believer in getting to know the needs of deaf people from the communities themselves and I always endorse the use of feedback for all the productions I work on.

Access needs within the deaf community are hugely varied and people enjoy theatre in different ways. While some people enjoy captioned performances, others prefer traditional BSL interpreted shows. Then whilst others enjoy the creative ways BSL is integrated, some prefer deaf led productions in BSL only.

It is near impossible to cater for everyone at the same time but by widening the choices available theatres are able to offer a selection to please most if not all.

During my associateship with Derby Theatre over the next 18 months I hope to consult with the deaf community and in particular the younger generation at schools and colleges to gain a better understanding of how enjoyable and accessible the theatre experience is for them.

As well as that, I am keen to explore the creation and delivery of signed song. Over the last week or so I have been chatting to deaf performing artists from across the UK and the general feeling between us is that not enough time has ever been given to the development of signed song among deaf artists.

So, it’s time to get planning!

Over the next few months I will be working with a team of deaf and hearing artists and musicians to explore the above and visiting local schools with deaf students to gain valuable feedback. I will let you all know what we discover in due course!

If you have any views on how accessible your theatre experiences are, I’d love to read them. You can drop me a line at Rebecca@rawithey.com