What a fantastic week Deaf Awareness Week was! Here are some of the highlights of the campaign delivered by Stagetext during May 6th – 12th.
Deaf Awareness Week 2024 saw several of our staff team and ambassadors representing Stagetext across various theatres, engaging in conversations both in person and online, and most importantly, raising awareness of quality captions and subtitles in the arts for deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing audiences.
To kick off, we hit the ground running by being a visible presence across several theatres this week. We started at Wyndham’s Theatre (May 7th) with both our Theatre Managers – Emily Thomas and Emily Salter greeting audiences attending the captioned performance of “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night”. The the following night, they were at Battersea Arts Centre’s captioned performance of “Bluebeard” (May 8th) along with our ambassador Eddie.
The momentum continued on May 9th with not one, but two locations in one day. Rachel and Emily were chatting to audiences at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre for the captioned performance of “Party Games”, while Emily Thomas and ambassador Jeremy held the fort over in Kilburn London at Kiln Theatre for the captioned performance of “The Ballad of Hattie and James”.
However, the highlight of the week was our special reception event on May 10th at the Mercury Theatre with speeches from our CEO Melanie, Trustee Sally Yarwood and the Mercury Theatre’s Executive Director, Steve Mannix. It was a great opportunity to network with professionals and individuals involved in the arts and culture sector. All our guests were invited to attend a captioned performance of a brand-new production called “Midsummer.”
But we’re not done yet! Beyond Deaf Awareness Week there’s a free webinar to register for, which runs on Thursday May 16th: “Everything you wanted to know about subtitling (but were afraid to ask)” with our resident expert Oliver Webster, Head of Systems and Services. The webinar will cover what makes subtitles an effective tool for deaf access, how best to format subtitles for access, and answer the most commonly asked questions about subtitling.
As Deaf Awareness Week 2024 ends, the message is clear – when access is prioritised, and barriers are broken, you are inviting everyone to contribute to the conversation.
It’s been a great week to showcase Stagetext’s knowledge, bringing awareness to the ways in which the arts can be made accessible. A big thank you from us to you and to everyone who made these events possible and most importantly, thanks to everyone who continues to support Stagetext throughout the year – without you, our work would not be possible.
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