How do I enjoy theatre as a blind person?
Theatre, along with TV shows, art, movies and a large variety of mainstream entertainment, is often viewed as inherently visual and therefore, not something you would expect a blind person to engage with. I have experienced many moments where someone will ask me what I enjoy watching, then catch themself and immediately apologise. However, musical theatre is something that I love engaging with, even though I can’t see what is happening onstage. There is so much to enjoy aside from the flashy costumes and perfectly-choreographed dances… and yet, I can still appreciate those too. Read on to discover how.
Before I talk about that, I want to take a moment to explain how I got here in the first-place. I have always loved music, and according to my mum, I began humming before speaking. I remember enjoying music lessons and listening to a large variety of hit songs that were in the charts in the early 2010s, so naturally, theatre was the next-step. The first musical I ever saw was Matilda – I was a big fan of Roald Dahl’s work, so was already familiar with the story. After seeing the show, I was hooked, and have dragged my mum to many, many more shows ever since.
I have kept you patiently waiting for long enough, so let’s talk about how I actually enjoy theatre. Now musical theatre is amazing to listen to, and the live music is incredible, but it is challenging to watch a show and not know what is going on onstage. This is where Audio Description, or AD comes in. This is where someone backstage describes the action that is happening onstage. This can include dances, costumes, who that new character who has just suddenly entered in a puff of smoke is, and lots more. For theatre, it is spoken live and can be listened through a headset, meaning that no one else gets disturbed.
Something to note about AD is that because it is given during the performance, it is difficult to describe the costumes or set in detail. To remedy this, the AD tends to start a few minutes before the show begins, where descriptions of the characters and the space is given. A lot of theatres also offer touch-tours. This is when vision-impaired theatre-goers, plus our lucky companions, are allowed to go onstage and feel the set, costumes and props for ourselves, as well as get some more information about the show. When we are extra lucky, members of the company have come out to speak to us and introduce themselves and their characters. Touch-tours are not only fun, but they can bring the show to life for someone who cannot see it.
Hopefully, this blog has shown that theatre can be enjoyed by and made accessible for vision-impaired people. Though we might approach the show differently, we ultimately leave with what many sighted theatre-fans do: a new favourite show, and lots of songs to binge-listen to on wherever you get your music! Although something may seem incredibly visual at first, there are so many ways to enjoy a show. I hope that you have had your burning vision-impairment theatre questions answered, or that this blog may have inspired you to attend a live show for yourself.
