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Audio Description Association

Newsletter

Sharing news and views in the world of audio description

Issue 6

Summer 2013

Expect rain in this issue which visits the wider, and often wetter, shores of audio description. Six

contributors relate their encounters with the unfamiliar during a year in which the London 2012

Games and a host of cultural events around the country stretched sporting and artistic boundaries as

never before.

In York, Ted Kendall escapes the showers while describing the Mystery Plays in the grounds of the

Castle Museum; at the Olympics, Julia Grundy describes rhythmic gymnastics from the shelter of

Wembley Arena; and Anne Hornsby dodges the downpours during her description of a promenade

performance at Hillingdon Lido.

Elsewhere, Judy Dixey reflects on access provision at the 2012 Games and her role as an Olympics

volunteer; Bridget Stevens reports from Edinburgh Festival Theatre on describing Scotland’s first

relaxed performance; and Marie Barenskie shares the frustration of her first experience of cinema

audio description at Vue Cinema in Westfield London.

Meantime, Louisa Sanfey investigates the development of audio description in Serbia as part of her

dissertation project. Her account of the fledgling service at the National Theatre in Belgrade is

published as a supplement to this issue.

At a glance

Mystery Plays: new adaptation in York 1

Rhythmic gymnastics at the Olympics 3

Like a Fish out of Water: multimedia 6

production at Hillingdon Lido

Changing hearts and minds: access 7

and volunteering at the 2012 Games

The Snowman: relaxed performance 9

in Edinburgh

Comment: Relaxed Performances 10

To Argo or not to Argo: headset dilemma 12

at Vue Cinema

Supplement

Developing audio description in Serbia

The York Mystery Plays

Ted Kendall transfers from the describer’s

box at York Theatre Royal to a work station

under the stands for an epic new production of

the Mystery Plays staged in a purpose-built

outdoor auditorium

In 2012, for the first time in 24 years, the York

Mystery Plays were performed in the setting of

York Museum Gardens. This required a

flexible approach to the task of audio

description.

The Plays, telling the Biblical story from the

Creation to the Last Judgment, are based on

the original Wagon Plays enacted, over

hundreds of years, by the York Guilds on the

backs of wagons all around the city. 2012’s

epic production, written by Mike Kenny, was

an adaptation of these plays condensing 14

hours of text into a 3-hour performance.

2 ADA Newsletter Summer 2013

For most of the month of August, a cast of two

professional actors and over 500 members of

the York community (split into two teams)

performed daily in the grounds of the Castle

Museum, with a backdrop of the ruined arches

of St Mary’s Abbey. A 72-strong choir and a 9-

piece brass band, all from the York area, also

joined the cast.

The logistical task of building from scratch a

bespoke, 1,400-seat capacity, auditorium

housing a multi-layered set of 20 smoke-

billowing trapdoors, split level platforms,

complex water features and huge main stage

elevated one and a half metres above ground

level, engaged construction, sound and

lighting teams for weeks before the event.

Clearly, the sheer scope of the set made

describing it a daunting task.

The audio describers for the Mystery Plays

were drawn from the team of volunteers who

cover performances at York Theatre Royal

and York Grand Opera House. All four of us

working on the Mystery Plays are graduates of

ADA’s accredited training.

We eagerly anticipated the challenges ahead,

and this was really necessary as the unusual

location, the timescale and the compromises

that had to be made, needed empathetic

understanding. There was no problem in

booking seats to view performances but

access to the describers’ working area was

restricted to the last few days before the actual

description.

The describers’ sound system, hired in for the

show and not available (due to budgetary

constraints) until the day before the first

described performance, was significantly

different from the one at York Theatre Royal,

in that there was no feedback of the

describer’s voice through our headphones. By

trial and error, we found that the best method

was to fit the earpiece provided for VIPs and

then wear the headphones over the top of it. It

was not actually too uncomfortable!

The describers’ working position was under

one of the stands, next to the vast banks of

electronic equipment. Whilst the electronics

were more or less protected by a covering

tarpaulin, the describers were not. As it rained

at several performances and the roofing did

not cover the whole of the stand seating, we

were pleased to find the staff’s assurances

that we would be dry were proved correct!

We had no view of the stage, so a feed from a

TV camera was set up to provide the stage

picture. Initially we had a single 32-inch

monitor but, due to the requirements of

directors, stage managers and crews, no

single one of the multi TV cameras covered

the whole of the vast stage area. Our willing

LX man listened with understanding when we

explained that we really did need to see the

whole of the action all the time, and put

together feeds from two cameras to provide

overlap coverage for us.

However, there was nothing he could do to

alleviate the dazzle on our monitors from the

spotlights as various parts of the action were

highlighted. This made the lot of the describers

even more difficult as many close action

details were virtually unseen by us in the white

glare of the spotlight beams. It was

exacerbated when the weather was bad, as

the rain-soaked stage reflected the lights.

Compiling the introduction was a potential

nightmare owing to the huge cast numbers.

Ruthless pruning of wide-ranging props, set,

character and costume notes had to be

undertaken. We tried to stick to an 8-minute

guideline but it was hard work. Costume

description was, in the main, limited to

generalities owing to the size of the cast.

However, the dress theme, faithfully following

drawings by contemporary Christian artist

Stanley Spencer, was of the 1940s era so this

helped a great deal. The dress of most of the

principal characters could be covered,

although even this was difficult to compress

into the introduction.


Touch tours were rather different from our

usual theatre tours since the props (which

included wheelbarrow-mounted bushes, trees

and pieces of a very large Noah’s ark) were

positioned around the scaffolded arena and

costumes were located quite remote from the

performance area. The stage itself was easily

accessible, but its sheer size and multi levels

plus the large numbers of trapdoors and other

entrances and exits made understanding the

setting a complex business.

Describing the Mystery Plays was good

experience and, as always, the whole effort

proved really worthwhile when VIPs fed back

their enthusiastic and satisfied comments at

the end.

Ted Kendall

[email protected]

Ted Kendall and his wife Gill are part of the

resident team of describers at York Theatre

Royal and York Grand Opera House.

Rhythmic Gymnastics

at the Olympics

Julia Grundy joins the ranks of presenters,

producers and technicians in Wembley Arena

for the most glamorous of all the competitive

events at the London 2012 Games

Describing rhythmic gymnastics was quite

different to anything I have done before. It

was an amazing experience to be a very small

part of the Olympics, starting with, a few days

earlier, picking up my accreditation (quick and

easy) in West Ham, and then spending seven

days watching the training and describing the

competition at Wembley Arena.

Rhythmic gymnastics itself was a completely

new departure for me, and therefore a steep

learning curve over a short period of time. Roz

Chalmers, who had done some initial work on

rhythmic gymnastics, gave me some very

helpful pointers, and I was able to watch the

athletes as they rehearsed for two days before

the competition. Vicky Hawkins, a former

gymnast and judge (though not in this

competition) was one of the presenters in the

stadium, and guided me through the

complicated series of moves that each routine

must contain.

I began by searching the Internet for some

initial information on the sport. This definition

is a good starting point:

Performed mostly by women, rhythmic

gymnastics is a discipline combining grace,

coordination, agility and artistry. Accompanied

by stirring music, the gymnast uses small hand

apparatus to weave a routine of flawless

beauty, moulding gymnast, music and

apparatus into one. The handling of apparatus

whilst performing complex turns, pivots,

balances and contortionist like movements are

characteristic trademarks of this intriguing

gymnastics discipline.

Each gymnast performs four routines,

approximately 90 seconds long, with a

different ‘apparatus’ for each routine: a pair of

clubs, a large hoop, a small ball, and a length

of ribbon attached to a slim handle.

Russian gold medallist

Eugenia Kanaeva

mailto:[email protected]


For the second part of the competition, teams

of five dancers perform; each team has two

routines, one with five balls, and another with

three ribbons and two hoops.

What sets rhythmic gymnastics apart from

many other sports is the aura of glamour; the

athletes are beautifully made up, their hair

pulled neatly back into tight buns, and their

colourful leotards sparkling with glitter and

sequins. There is a different leotard for each

of their routines, and more than a whiff of

show business in the presentation – I found it

difficult not to refer to the competition area as

the performance area and the gymnasts as

performers. Their performance styles range

from modern jazzy routines to classical ballet.

The gymnasts compete on a raised area,

thirteen metres square. The sequences of

moves are swift and skilful, testing pivots and

balances as the gymnasts pirouette and leap,

accompanied by loud, vibrant music.

Competition area at Wembley Arena

It is extraordinary to watch as the clubs, balls

and ribbons are thrown high in the air, while

the gymnast performs a complicated series of

moves below, before arriving at exactly the

right place on the square to catch the

apparatus again.

I had only a short time to work out how to

approach my description. I decided that I was

not experienced enough to name all the

moves or even to recognise them all as they

whirled swiftly past. Also, the technical terms

would probably not have meant very much to

the general listener. The short length of each

routine means that the combination of moves

is very fast, and often the narrative or style is

only fleetingly apparent.

My descriptions attempted to convey in

physical terms what the gymnasts were

actually doing, coloured with the style with

which each athlete expressed the music. I

found it best to focus on particularly skilful or

spectacular highlights or poignant moments,

as well as giving an overview of the style. This

dovetailed well with Vicky who reviewed each

routine afterwards as part of her presentation

to the whole arena. I paused my description in

between each routine, so the AD users could

listen to the live presenters. Often I found the

spectacular moments that I had picked out

matched Vicky’s; her technical expertise

hopefully complemented and informed my

more physical description.

One of the most difficult aspects was keeping

the language fresh. The twenty-four athletes’

four routines all had to contain a core of leaps,

pivots and balances, though obviously in

different combinations. It was easy to find

oneself repeating the same words to describe

the moves, and it was a constant effort to keep

coming up with a variety of descriptive terms.

Each routine had its own style which coloured

the description, but the routines were so short

and fast that it was hard to get a feel for the

whole until it was finished. Then it was only a

minute to go before the next one. I built up a

list of useful words that I could bring into the

descriptions.

There was always an enormous amount

packed into the short time. I was able to

watch and make notes on some of the routines

on the training days, but at least half of them

had to be described without seeing them in

advance. It was a nerve-wracking experience

at first, though I became more familiar with the

routines as the competition progressed. I think

some work I had recently done with a

contemporary dance company, as well as

some ballet descriptions, definitely helped.


Another aspect of this work was the working

conditions, which were different from any I had

experienced before. As a theatre describer I

am used to sitting alone in a dark space, either

at the back of the theatre with a view of the

stage, or somewhere with a monitor out of

earshot of the audience. At Wembley Arena

my position was part of a long row of

presenters, producers and technicians behind

a bank of screens, above the line of judges.

We were all out in the open, very visible, and

with no soundproofing.

My position had two monitor screens, one with

the information I needed about the competitors

and another with a view of the competition

area, plus a somewhat restricted view over the

top of the screens. I also had a control box for

my microphone.

Describer’s work station

As part of the production team, I had the

producer’s voice constantly in my

headphones; what she said was for the other

presenters and technicians, not for me, and

although at first it was quite distracting, after a

while I could block it out mentally.

I raised my normal voice level when the music

became very loud, and it was hard to believe

that everyone around couldn’t hear me.

Having checked with the people either side of

me, it was clear that with so much going on

and the general noise levels, they were not

aware of my voice. Once the competition

started no one in the technical positions could

move, and we all stayed seated for several

hours, supplied with bottles of water, cups of

coffee, sandwiches and cereal bars throughout

the time. In any brief intervals there was a

swift mass exodus to the toilets!

The other main difference to anything I had

done before was the complete lack of

connection with my audience. When I first

arrived I attended a production meeting, all my

equipment was set up, and I was expected to

settle down and start working. I asked the

very friendly and efficient producer, who

explained that there were special booths in the

foyer of the arena, where visually impaired

members of the audience could pick up

headsets. They could keep these headsets to

use at the several different venues of the

Games. However, that was all completely

separate from the live production setup and I

never had the opportunity to check it out, or

meet members of the audience, as I was

always in my position and unable to move

from it once the sessions had started.

The sport of rhythmic gymnastics is dominated

by Eastern Europe and Russia in particular,

though among others Spain and Italy have

some very exciting gymnasts. Both the

individual and group competitions were won by

the Russians, who combine great skill with

routines heavily influenced by classical ballet.

As with everyone’s general experience of the

Games, I found all the volunteers cheerful,

friendly and helpful and the whole organisation

worked very efficiently. It was an extremely

intense seven days, very enjoyable and

stretching.

Julia Grundy

[email protected]

Julia Grundy is one of the three theatre

describers who run Sightlines, the audio

description agency which specialises in opera.

She describes for the Royal Shakespeare

Company, Mind’s Eye, VocalEyes and various

venues in London and the West Midlands.

Julia also works part time as a rare book

cataloguer in Warwick University Library.



Like A Fish Out of Water

Anne Hornsby adds live audio description to

a promenade performance of an innovative,

multimedia dance drama combining live action

with filmed sequences, music, sound effects

and narration delivered via the audience’s

iPods.

One of the highlights of last year for me was

describing from a shower block in the rain at a

lido in Hillingdon, as part of The Mayor of

London’s 2012 Festival.

Like a Fish Out of Water was a co-production

between English National Ballet and the

Seven Sisters Group, a British performance

company which explores contemporary issues

through “new and idiosyncratic works that defy

labelling”.

The show combined live dance performed at,

in, and around the Lidos at Hillingdon and

Hampton, with filmed footage of dance,

underwater swimming and fantasy sequences,

played for the audience on an iPod with a

narrative, sound effects and music through

their personal headphones.

Audiences were allowed entry every ten

minutes or so in groups of no more than four,

equipped with their iPods, which also showed

them the route to follow in the promenade

performance.

The challenge for an audio describer was how

to weave in a description of the route, the

surroundings, the live performers and their

movements, plus a description of the film

footage on the screens, while keeping the

audience’s iPods in sync and allowing the

narration and soundscape to come through.

Oh – and another small challenge – the film on

the iPods was not completed until the day

before the performance.

It was agreed that there was already sufficient

technology around, and a headset to listen to

the audio description would only complicate

matters further. Thus the description would be

delivered live, directly to the listeners. In an

ideal world, the film shown on the iPods would

have had its own perfectly timed, integrated

audio description, but how many of us live in

that ideal world?

To make the task of providing the audio

description easier, the iPods used by the

listeners had pause buttons, which were

disabled on those used by other visitors. The

time slots allotted for the audio description

users were also extended for allow for the

extra audio information.

This meant that I could describe the location

and the live action whilst the film was on

pause, and then weave the description around

the soundtrack while the film was playing. If

necessary, I could pause the film for a few

seconds to allow description where there were

no gaps in the soundtrack, and then re-start,

making sure we were all in sync. (How often

have we wished we could pause the action on

stage in order to give a quick description?)

The project was fascinating to work on. The

story focused on the life of a woman now in

her 60s, Submarina, Queen of the Deep, who

always loved to be in the water and felt

trapped on land. Moments from her real and

fantasy life were enacted on screen and by the

dancers before us.

The film footage showed mythological

creatures including a mermaid, in a rippling

red dress, dancing a love duet; a Selkie – a

seal like creature – hopping, rolling, undulating

on the ground; sequences of an underwater

diver with a bomb on a mission to save the

country; a 50’s housewife ironing underwater

while her good for nothing husband sat

reading the paper; fit young men diving into

the pool, preening, posing and strutting their

stuff to catch the eye of the young women; and

a wonderfully choreographed and stylish

Busby Berkley-style dance for the female

dancers in 30s one-piece swimsuits and

colourful swimming rings around their waists.


The live action frequently referenced what was

happening in the film: a Selkie would jump out

before us; a solo male dancer would wink at

us as he showed off his cartwheels and

handstands; a female dancer would perform a

lively routine, and, all the while, the older

Submarina, in red dress and flowery swimming

cap, would sit by the water watching the

reflections of the cloudy skies above. When it

rained, as it often did, the dancers would not

perform on the wet ground, but the audience

were still welcome to complete the tour, just

watching what was unfolding on their iPods.

Drenched describer

Anne Hornsby

We began our audio described tour under

clouds but with the dancers in position. As we

made our way the heavens opened; the

dancers retreated inside to the relative warmth

of the sports centre, and I and my listeners

gathered in the outside shower block. I was

able to describe to them not only what was

happening on the iPod, but what would have

been happening around the Lido if it had not

been bucketing down. We put up our hoods,

sheltered the iPods under our waterproofs and

carried on to the final splash. The blind young woman and her two friends

really enjoyed the experience, and the show

generally was very well received, with most

performances sold out despite the rain.

For me it was a highly satisfying audio

description opportunity, drawing on skills

involved in describing movement, settings,

characters, costumes and also with a need to

improvise as events unfolded around us. Had

the weather not been so bad I am sure more

people would have ventured out to take

advantage of the audio description for this

highly imaginative piece of dance theatre.

Later that summer I was booked to describe

two more outdoor events: Showtime in East

London for VocalEyes, and a promenade

production of StarCross’d in an Oldham park.

Sadly we had no takers for either, and once

again, the weather was probably to blame. As

the Mayor of London said, it was “a summer

like no other”!

Anne Hornsby

[email protected]

Anne Hornsby is one of the early pioneers of

British audio description. Her career as a

describer began at the Octagon Theatre in

Bolton in 1988. In the early 90s she set up

Mind’s Eye which offers a nationwide

description service for theatres, museums,

galleries, conferences, film festivals and other

cultural events. Anne revels in the unusual –

from Chester Zoo to Hillingdon Lido….

Changing Hearts and Minds

Judy Dixey, Director of VocalEyes, debates

whether London 2012 lived up to its promise to

be the “most accessible Games ever”, and

describes her own contribution to the Olympics

as a Team London Ambassador volunteer

Wasn’t London fantastic during Games-time?

If you came in to the capital between the end

of July and the middle of September, you’d

have found it clean, uncrowded and friendly,



and you’d have seen plenty of smiling,

uniformed people chatting with visitors,

offering help and advice. I was one of those

‘pink and purple people’, a Team London

Ambassador with the brief to make London a

safe and welcoming place for visitors to enjoy.

But did that “summer like no other” give us a

chance to move forward the access agenda?

In July 2006, we had the thrill of the

announcement that the Games were coming

to London; these would be the most

accessible Games ever. Cynicism was not

hard to find. The BBC 2 comedy series Twenty

Twelve brilliantly satirised a lot of what we

dreaded might be going on, and those in the

know knew really was going on!

But some of us pushed against that strongly;

we at VocalEyes made sure our voices were

heard in every possible gathering, insisting

that access was appropriate and essential.

And not just during the Paralympics – surely

diverse and disabled audiences would want

access at both Olympics and Paralympics?

We surveyed our audiences and had more

than 70 responses confirming that if there was

audio description at the Games, they would

attend. One 90-year old had attended the

Opening Ceremony in 1948 when, in a grey

year of austerity and continued rationing, the

Games brought a splash of colour to the White

City stadium. He had since lost his sight but

was keen to attend the Ceremony if there was

audio description.

Invited by the RNIB, we joined representatives

from Action on Hearing Loss, Guide Dogs, and

the Royal National College for the Blind, on an

External Stakeholders Committee. Together,

we encouraged, lobbied, complained and

raised issues with the Organising Committee’s

access management to persuade them

provide a fully accessible experience; this

included everything from ticketing to travelling,

torch relay and toilets, the athletes’ training

and accommodation, visitors and volunteers,

logistics and legacy, wheelchair access and

audio description. And all those efforts paid

off substantially.

We won the argument that there should be

audio description not only of the sports but

also the ceremonies. Mike Brace, the

Paralympian cross-country skier, was able to

enjoy an excellent description of the Opening

Ceremony at the Paralympics and understand

what was going on for the first time in seven

Paralympic Games. Several of our friends and

colleagues used the radio kit in the venues,

and had interesting, mixed experiences – but it

was a start.

While the training I received as a volunteer

only briefly touched on access and disability,

nonetheless, it was raised, and the team

leaders and Paralympic volunteers had a

somewhat more thorough session. There now

is much greater awareness of the issues.

And, though late to it, many elements of the

Cultural Olympiad were made accessible –

describers from the VocalEyes team were

involved in events scattered around the

London boroughs, and theatres and galleries

made great efforts to welcome all comers.

So what was it like for me as a ‘pink and

purple person’? I had 3 days of training, the

last at the venue where I was based – London

Bridge Station. The first 2 days covered

working as a team, customer care (from John

Lewis), the HOT procedure (which is how you

assess whether a found object, parcel or

briefcase, is safe or not), dealing with difficult

people; and the last day was all about the

venue and the area: where were the nearest

loos; what tourist attractions were nearby;

what restaurants were closest; and any other

local information visitors might be looking for.

One question we were not prepared for, which

came up at least ten times a day, was “Where

is London Bridge?” Of course, what enquirers

really wanted was Tower Bridge!

Team London Ambassador volunteers were

asked to do 6 days of 5 hours each; my shifts


were from 5–10pm during the Olympics, quite

tiring at the end of a working day, but

fortunately it included the weekend. Others on

the team included a Chinese student, a recent

law graduate, a South African recruitment

consultant, a retired nurse and a social worker.

We wandered around the area, chatting,

helping, smiling, advising, handing out maps.

On one occasion, a visitor’s mobile phone had

run out of juice and the number she needed to

call was on the SIM card, so we put her SIM in

one of our phones and she was united with the

friend she was due to meet.

Another time, some Indian visitors asked

“Where is the nearest McDonald’s?” We gave

them the information and enquired why, to be

told that they were Brahmins and meditated,

so did not eat garlic or onions because those

ingredients made them excited; McDonald’s

is the only restaurant with strict separation of

ingredients (so your chips are not cooked in oil

that also cooks garlic or onions). We were not

only giving but receiving information.

There were large screens on Potters Field and

at the entrance to London Bridge station itself

for spectators to follow the major events. Many

of us were in tears when Jessica Ennis won

her 7th event by a huge margin, and the roar

when Usain Bolt powered through the 100

metres could have been heard on all the trains

leaving the station! Despite working where we

did, we didn’t have to miss out on the sport.

The warmth and friendliness was sincere,

smiles generated more smiles, thoughtfulness

more thoughtfulness. Visitors commented that

we should always be there to help, and

certainly there are proposals for future

deployment of volunteers.

There is now a move to take the spirit and the

lessons learned on into Glasgow 2014 for the

Commonwealth Games. This has genuinely

been a more accessible Games than ever, and

we have every chance, if we hold our nerve, of

seeing a real and lasting difference in attitude

in all reaches of society – culture, sport, life.

Judy Dixey

[email protected]

Judy Dixey has been Director of VocalEyes

since September 2004. With a team of around

20 freelance describers, VocalEyes is the

largest audio description agency in the UK. It

was set up in 1998 with Arts Council support,

to provide audio description for touring theatre

and has since expanded to cover a wide range

of theatrical entertainment plus architecture

and the visual arts. VocalEyes also engages in

research and training activities.

The (Relaxed) Snowman

Bridget Stevens faces the challenge of audio

describing for an audience of 300 children with

a range of physical, sensory, learning and

behavioural difficulties at Scotland’s first

relaxed performance in December 2012

To be honest, when Irene MacKenzie and I

were asked if we’d be willing to describe a

relaxed performance of the Edinburgh Festival

Theatre’s pre-Christmas show The Snowman,

we had absolutely no idea what was meant by

‘relaxed’ in this context. Our subsequent

learning curve was very steep indeed!

We were told how arrangements had been

made for a special performance of The

Snowman to be staged one weekday morning

in December for around 300 local children with

a range of physical, sensory, learning and

behavioural problems. All sorts of adjustments

had to be made by the theatre to

accommodate the needs of these children:

the house lights would remain on throughout

the performance, there would be no dramatic

lighting changes on stage and the volume of

the sound effects would be reduced.

Front of house adjustments included the

provision of hoists, lifts and changing beds for



personal care, as well as quiet areas for those

who might become overwhelmed, and extra

spaces in the auditorium for wheelchairs,

trolleys and beds.

Special arrangements had to be put in place

and rehearsed for safe evacuation of the

building in the event of fire, and buses hired to

bring groups of disabled children from their

homes and schools to the theatre. Some of the

carers and teachers needed to visit the theatre

in advance and talk with the staff before

deciding whether or not it would be

appropriate or possible for the children in their

care to be brought along. On the day of the

performance every single member of front of

house was on duty from 8.30am, along with

senior managers.

Irene and I were asked to prepare and deliver

an audio description which would be suitable

for children with sight and other impairments.

We were only able to see the show twice in

advance and quickly agreed that the rules of

audio description would have to be tweaked a

little.

There couldn’t be an Introduction and we

decided that we would have to include some

interpretation (normally frowned on in theatre

AD!) in order that our listeners, many of whom

would be brain damaged as well as visually

impaired, could have the best chance of

following the action. We agreed that it would

be OK to use words like ‘sad’, ‘frightened’ and

‘happy’ because we knew that many of our

listeners would not understand if we adhered

to the usual AD practice of indicating emotions

and feelings by describing body language,

facial expressions etc.

Another challenge was that the age range of

our listeners would be 6 –18, so that we had to

find simple words which would be understood

by them all. There was no dialogue in the play

and timing was fairly straightforward, but on

the other hand there were numerous dance

sequences which require a different approach

from the description of ordinary movement.

All in all, we found the experience interesting,

moving and humbling. This was the first

relaxed performance to take place in Scotland

and we learned later that feedback from the

children had been very positive, and the

National Theatre of Scotland has since put on

an autism-friendly performance of A Christmas

Carol. The first of many we hope!

Bridget Stevens

[email protected]

Bridget Stevens has been involved in Scottish

audio description for well over a decade, both

as a theatre describer and as a tutor/assessor

on the ADA/ADAS accredited training course

for stage describers. Bridget also initiated

audio description at the Scottish Parliament.

Comment: Relaxed Performances

“Relaxed performances are not a new feature

of theatre life” commented Kevin Berry in The

Stage last summer. “At the West Yorkshire

Playhouse in Leeds, Nicky Taylor has been

setting up relaxed performances since January

2010. Her pre-show information pack is

exemplary, and includes the promise of

‘having your picture taken with the actors’.”

His article was prompted by the first relaxed

performance in London’s West End, a special

staging of Shrek: the Musical by Mousetrap,

the theatre access charity, for 500 families

with children whose physical, sensory,

learning and behavioural difficulties made

ordinary theatregoing a challenge too far.

Eight months later, the Relaxed Performance

Project was launched at the RSC’s relaxed

performance of The Mouse and His Child on

7th January 2013. Ten theatres across the UK

are involved in the Project, which is being

piloted by the Society of London Theatre

(SOLT), Theatrical Management Association

(TMA), and The Prince’s Foundation for

Children & the Arts. They include the Globe

Theatre, Royal National Theatre, Newcastle’s



Theatre Royal, Nottingham Playhouse, West

Yorkshire Playhouse, and venues in Bromley,

Grimsby and Richmond, Surrey belonging to

the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) which

is taking an active interest in the Project.

A representative range of family shows was

selected – pantomimes, musicals, drama and

comedy – in order to develop a robust body of

experience on which to base a best practice

model, to be circulated with the rest of the

Project’s findings during autumn 2013. The

ultimate aim is to encourage more venues to

make relaxed performances a regular feature

of their work.

Where audio description is concerned, two

questions spring to mind. Is Edinburgh the

only venue so far to have offered audio

description with its relaxed performance? The

answer is no – but only one other report has

reached us. It comes from the Mayflower

Theatre in Southampton which was specifically

asked to provide audio description for visually

impaired members of a group coming to the

relaxed performance, and laid on a touch tour

as well.

Neither the National Theatre nor the RSC

have mixed their services, and other venues

south of the Border appear to have taken the

same approach. But at least two venues in

addition to Southampton – Norwich Theatre

Royal and Birmingham Hippodrome – are

advertising audio description with the relaxed

performances of their pantomimes this year,

and this may well be the beginning of a trend.

More importantly, is there a definite role for

audio description in the context of a relaxed

performance? The answer is a cautious yes –

cautious because in the absence of research

and very little in the way of actual practice,

audio description’s contribution is still largely

speculative. Kirsty Hoyle, the Relaxed

Performance Project Manager, says she

considered both captioning and audio

description as an option for research but did

not have the capacity under the Project.

Anecdotal evidence relates mainly to autism,

and ranges from people who argue that adding

yet another stimulus would only be

counterproductive to the mother who felt audio

description had a calming effect on her son,

since he could close his eyes to block out

disturbing visual stimuli and still know what

was happening on stage. In her online article

Autistic spectrum, captions and audio

description, Judith Garman mentions a

participant with ADHD in the IPTV user trials

she carried out with the BBC in 2010/2011,

who found audio description “massively

helpful”.

There was no uptake for the audio description

at Edinburgh’s relaxed performance of The

Snowman, but the Southampton experience

confirms there is a potential demand for audio

description from its traditional audience of

children and adults whose sight (or sightlines)

is impaired. And the anecdotal evidence

suggests it may also be a valid option for at

least some participants with learning and

behavioural difficulties because of the

additional explanation and reinforcement it can

provide. Unlike the blanket audience exposure

of captioning and signing, audio description is

designed for individual use, to be selected or

rejected depending on personal choice.

Stimulus overload is easily avoided,

Admittedly, audio description involves wearing

a headset which could be a deterrent in itself.

In which case (thinking outside the describer’s

box), roving describers, offering audio

description directly to the user in a suitable

space in the auditorium, might be a feasible

alternative. Clearly, this is an option that would

need to be discussed in advance with parents

and teachers, to identify potential users, and

with the theatre staff and describers involved

in the additional planning.

All your comments on this topic are welcome,

especially from theatre staff, audio describers

and participants at the relaxed performances

with AD scheduled for the 2013/14 Christmas

season. Hopefully, we can pool experience


and arrive at a more informed assessment of

audio description’s potential role than is

possible at present.

Footnote

Relaxed and autism-friendly are British and

American terms for the same concept. Kirsty

Hoyle confirms that the Project initially used

autism-friendly but changed to relaxed in

2011/12 to reflect the diversity of audiences

more accurately.

For more information about the Relaxed

Performance Project, visit:

www.facebook.com/RelaxedPerformanceProject

or email Kirsty Hoyle, the Project Manager, at:

[email protected]

For dates of relaxed performances in the

London area, see SOLT’s

Access London Theatre guide at:

www.solt.org.uk

To comment on any of the points raised in the

article above, please email:

Mary Plackett

[email protected]

To Argo or not to Argo

Marie Barenskie’s first experience of cinema

audio description ends in disappointment

It was a cold February weekday; just the kind

of afternoon for a cinema outing. The Vue

Cinema in that retail playground known as

Westfield had a matinee showing of Argo.

Better still, its website announced Argo with

audio description so, intrigued, I set off.

I arrived early at the cinema and on entry

asked the nearest member of staff what I’d

need to do for watching with AD. She didn’t

know what that would involve and directed me

to other front of house staff. Fortunately, the

next employee knew it involved a headset. I

bought a ticket and was told I’d need to return

about ten minutes before the film started so

the headset could be brought from the

manager’s office and instructions given. Fair

enough.

About an hour later I returned and was given

the headset. I was told the commentary was in

synch with the film (that is, wouldn’t cover the

adverts) and I had to press small switches on

both sides of the headset. One was ‘off/on’

and the other to switch to AD. I could also

control the volume with pedal mechanisms

underneath each earpiece. The two ladies who

were giving me directions were pleasant but,

to be honest, I wondered if I’d be able to follow

them within the darkened precincts of the

cinema if I’d really had a significant visual

impairment. Convincing myself that I was

worrying about nothing, I went into the

auditorium.

It was a small auditorium and as Argo is a

thought-provoking film, not a ‘big’ mainstream

film, and it was a weekday afternoon there

were only a few people watching alongside

me. Great. The film begins. On goes the

headset and the ‘on’ switch. No commentary.

Press the ‘off’ switch and try again. Still no

commentary. Just a lot of noise interference.

This continued for a while with me fiddling (as

quietly as possible) in the very dark

surroundings. The only sound I could hear was

increased volume for the dialogue but nothing

on the visuals. In the end I gave up. I toyed

with going outside to ask for more instructions

but then didn’t want to miss the storyline in

what was a gripping film. That was an easy

decision: I don’t have a visual impairment that

interferes with enjoyment of a film. So I sat it

out, limply holding the headset in my hands.

On exiting I told the (different) member of staff

the equipment hadn’t worked. “I’ll let the

manager know” came the response. Not

http://www.facebook.com/RelaxedPerformanceProject


http://www.solt.org.uk/



leaving it at that, I wrote to the manager to

complain, and received a message saying that

the incident was being looked at, though as

yet I have had no final response.

It was a disappointing experience and I even

felt sorry for whoever had recorded the AD, as

I missed the opportunity to experience the ‘skill

in action’, which I’ve only done through DVDs

in the past. I also started to think about the

kind of equipment used by cinema visitors,

whether it all works perfectly fine most of the

time and it’s just me. All I know for certain is

that if I’d paid £9.35 for a matinee and the

equipment didn’t work I’d be pretty annoyed!

Marie Barenskie

[email protected] Marie Barenskie provides audio description for

visually impaired visitors on guided tours of the

City of London and Guildhall Art Gallery.

ADA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2012/13

Elected members

Stef Bell (Website)

*Lynn Cox (Vice Chair/Membership)

Sunethra Goonewardene

Pat Hayes (Equity)

Anne Hornsby (Secretary)

Veronika Hyks

Jonathan Nash

Mary Plackett (Acting Chair/Treasurer/Training)

Ridanne Sheridan (Directory)

*Resigned mid-term

Coopted members

Judy Dixey (VocalEyes)

Maryse Jeffery

Adrienne Pye

Observer

Sheena Guz (Chair, ADA Scotland)

This newsletter has been compiled by members of ADA’s Executive Committee, with appreciative

thanks to all our contributors. Readers’ contributions are warmly welcomed. Please send your news,

views, comments and corrections to:

[email protected]



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