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Theatre Captioning

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Founded in 2000, we are the UK’s leading provider of theatre captioning services dedicated to making live performances accessible to deaf, deafened and hard of hearing audiences. We specialise in text-based deaf access, delivering high quality captions that help theatres create inclusive, welcoming experiences for everyone.

Theatre captioning supports all scripted performances including plays and musicals. Over the years we have partnered with venues of every scale – from the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe and Jermyn Street Theatre to Nottingham Theatre Royal and Chichester Festival Theatre. Our work spans the full spectrum of productions, from large-scale musicals and Shakespearen classics to innovative Fringe productions.

We only use humans, not AI. We work exclusively with highly skilled professional theatre captioners, ensuring the highest standards of accuracy, clarity and accessibility.

With over two decades of experience means we understand both the creative and practical demands of live theatre. Above all, we are committed to putting deaf audiences first, helping the industry move towards a more inclusive and accessible future.

We tailor every solution to your venue, ensuring captions integrate seamlessly into your space and deliver the best possible experience for deaf audiences. Whether your theatre seats 100 or 1,000, we provide reliable, high-quality access services and act as a trusted partner in your accessibility journey.

Captions benefit a far wider audience beyond deaf and hard of hearing people. They can support people for whom English is an additional language, as well as neurodivergent audience members who find captions helpful for focus, clarity or comprehension.

To explore the options for your venue, please contact Head of Training and Theatre, Olivia Durkin and our Theatre Programme Manager, Gavin Songer.

“Thanks to Stagetext, my lovely partner can enjoy theatre...which means we can enjoy it together. Stagetext reduces the isolation and exclusion experienced by many deaf and deafened people.”

Annie

Our Services

We offer four flexible levels of support for theatre captioned performances allowing you to choose the model that best suits your venue and resources:

End-to-end Theatre Captioning Service

We provide a complete fully managed captioning service. This includes professional captioners, technical staff, all necessary equipment and consultancy where required. We oversee the captioning for the entire production, so your theatre does not need to supply any additional resources. Your event is also promoted on our listings page, helping audiences discover accessible performances.

Captions Only

We supply an experienced professional captioner for your performance. The theatre provides the caption screens and equipment, which are then operated by our captioner. This option is ideal for venues with an established captioning set-up in place. As with all supported performances, your event will be promoted on our listings page.

Supported Shows (In-house Captioning)

For performances captioned entirely in-house, we offer promotional support. Whilst we do not provide captioners or equipment for these shows, we list them on our website to help audiences find accessible performances. If you would like your captioned event on our listings page, we would be delighted to hear from you.

List your event

Equipment hire for In-House Captioners

We can provide captioning equipment for productions that already have a Stagetext trained captioner attached. In this model, all captioning is delivered in-house and supply the necessary equipment only. Please note we do not offer long-term equipment hire. As with other supported performances, we can also promote your event through our listings page.

If you’re planning live, unscripted performances or events with very short runs, such as stand up comedy, talks, tours or Q&As, please visit our live subtitles page for more information.

Ready to make a booking?

Use our booking enquiries form to get a quote.

Get A Quote

How it works

What’s the first step?

Start by getting in touch: give us as much notice as you can. Whether you’re planning your hundredth accessible performance or exploring captions for the first time, our Head of Training and Theatre, Olivia Durkin and Theatre Programme Manager, Gavin Songer are here to support you.

They’ll talk through the specific requirements of your production, explore the possibilities within your space and answer any questions you may have about captioning.

From there, they’ll guide you through the available options and recommend the most suitable access solution for your venue.

How should we prepare?

Like any successful production, effective captioning relies on preparation. If we haven’t worked with your venue before, we’ll visit to assess the space and advise on the best screen placement for clear sightlines and optimal audience experience.

We’ll need a copy of the script well in advance. To ensure equal access, our expert captioners enhance the script with essential information such as sound effects, character accents and off-stage sounds. They also format captions into short, easy-to-read lines designed for live performances.

Our captioners will watch the show wherever possible, although ideally from the auditorium so they can experience it as the audience does. We’ll also need a recording to continue preparation off-site.

By thoroughly familiarising themselves with the production timings and cast performances, our captioners ensure the text is word-perfect and precisely synchronised with the action on stage.

What happens on the day?

Our captioner will arrive in good time before the performance to set up. They’ll need a position where they can clearly see the caption screen and hear the action on stage. Your team may need to direct them to the appropriate location and introduce them to technical staff in case support is required.

If needed, we can assist with technical set-up and brief your front-of-house or production teams on what to expect from a captioned performance.

Before the curtain rises, the captioner will run technical checks to ensure everything is connected and functioning correctly. During the show, they will cue each line live, keeping captions perfectly in time with the performance.

The result? An experience where everyone, deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and hearing audience members alike, can share the laughter, tears and applause together. That’s what equal access looks like.

“Only ever attend captioned performances. They have opened up my world, and I can go with my hearing friends and actually enjoy the magic and power of live theatre.”

Nell - Caption User

Types of access

There are two main kinds of access: open access, where captions are visible to everyone, and closed access, where captions are delivered on personal devices.

Where possible, we recommend open access. It provides a shared, equal experience and allows audience members to use captions without having to identify or declare their access needs.

In some spaces, however, closed captioning may be more practical. Certain solutions can even be offered at every performance, giving audiences greater flexibility and choice.

Theatre captioning is designed for scripted performance. If your event is largely unscripted, or includes significant improvisation, live subtitling may be more suitable. If you are releasing a pre-recorded performance online, we can also advise on digital subtitles for online platforms.

Open captioning is our preferred solution where the space allows, as it benefits the widest possible audience. We install purpose-built caption screens positioned beside the stage, visible to the whole auditorium.

When selling access tickets for captioned performances, we recommend allocating seats with clear sightlines to both the stage and the caption screen.

For online content, open captioning means subtitles are switched on by default. While this may not be supported on every livestreaming platform, pre-recorded videos can include “burnt in” subtitles that remain permanently visible.

In some venues, captions may be better delivered via personal handheld devices. The captions are prepared and cued in exactly the same way as open captions, maintaining the same standards of quality and accuracy.

If your seating allows for tablet stands or rests, this can significantly enhance comfort and usability for caption users.

Online, closed captioning allows audiences to switch subtitles on or off according to their preference – a feature supported by most streaming platforms.

Emerging smart glasses technology can display captions directly within the user’s field of vision. These devices use automatic cues from sound and lighting to time the display, while the captions themselves are professionally prepared in advance by an expert captioner.

This technology is not yet widely available, but it can be seen in use at the National Theatre.

Creative captioning integrates captions artistically into the production, for example, as part of the set design. Developed alongside the show, these captions are designed to complement the visual experience of the performance while maintaining clarity and accessibility.

We can work with your creative team to ensure accessibility remains central throughout the development process.

Where can we reach the right audience?

Our website is a trusted, go-to destination for listings of accessible performances. Once your captioned date is confirmed, we can promote it on our listings page. We’ll simply need a short synopsis, a production image, and clear information on how audiences can book access tickets.

Captions benefit a far wider audience than those who book access tickets. Some audience members may not wish to disclose that they are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing, while others use captions to support concentration, comprehension or literacy. For that reason, it’s important to include details of captioned performances across all your marketing and communications, not just in access-specific materials.

In addition to listing your event on our website, we can help raise awareness among deaf audiences through our newsletter and social media channels, ensuring your accessible performance reaches the people who will value it most.

List your event

Contact us

Ask us a question about captioning:
If you have questions about theatre captioning, please fill in the form and one of our Theatre Programme Managers, Olivia Durkin or Gavin Songer will be in touch.

Ready to make a booking?

Use our booking enquiries form to get a quote.

Get A Quote

List your event

If you’re putting on a captioned performance, you can share it on our website for free. Send us the details here.

Theatre Captioning