Stagetext is 25!
We’ve been championing deaf access to arts and culture across the UK for 25 years through theatre captions and subtitles. It’s a big milestone for us here at Stagetext and gives us an opportunity to pause, reflect and plan for the future.
Today our vision is just as clear and important as it was at the start, we are passionate about making the arts a more welcoming and accessible place for the 18 million people in the UK who are deaf, deafened and hard of hearing. Our founders knew firsthand the isolation that comes from being excluded, and we’re determined that no one should ever feel that way again.
For Stagetext, it all started back in 2000, when Big Brother first hit our screens on Channel 4, the Tate Modern art gallery and the Millennium Dome opened their doors, Westlife were topping the charts, and a pint of milk was 35p.
Three friends each with different experiences of deafness, set up Stagetext to bring captioned theatre to UK audiences. Since our first captioned performance of The Duchess of Malfi at the Barbican Centre in November 2000, we’ve grown into a national charity that helps make thousands of captioned performances and live subtitled events happen across the UK. That works out to on average three captioned or subtitled events happening every single day of the year.
While we prepare to celebrate our 25 year journey, have a look at the timeline below of some key moments that shaped us along the way.
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Story so far . . .
2000 – The Spark: An American production funded by the Theatre Development Fund, bring captioned theatre to London in March, inspiring three theatre lovers, Peter, Merfyn and Geoff, who ask: “Why not always?” By May, Stagetext is officially founded. In November, the Royal Shakespeare Company agrees with the vision of deaf accessible theatre, and The Duchess of Malfi becomes our first captioned show at the Barbican.
2001-2002 – Building Success: The RSC’s Duchess of Malfi’s success sparks demand for captioned performances from both the public and venues nationwide, from Stoke and Woking to Bath, Stratford and Sheffield. Prestigious venues embrace the movement – the Young Vic hosts Peter Brooks’ Hamlet with captions and partnerships grow with regional powerhouses like Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Marlowe Canterbury, and Lyceum Sheffield. Stagetext officially becomes a registered charity!
2002-2003 – Growing Momentum: The first Stagetext office opens in Wembley with dedicated staff and we caption our first West End musical, Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre. John Suchet become our first patron.
2005 – Building the Movement: A pivotal moment arrives with Tabitha Allum joining as our first Chief Executive. Under her leadership, Stagetext expands training for captioners and technicians across the UK and launch live subtitling services nationwide.
2006 – Major Breakthrough: A significant breakthrough arrives with a £1 million joint award from the Treasury’s Invest to Save programme and Arts Council England. This launches the See A Voice project with VocalEyes (charity delivering audio description for blind and partially sighted people), expanding captioning and audio description across England. Birmingham Hippodrome and Birmingham Rep lead the way as theatre groups begin sharing equipment and Stagetext trains local captioners.
2007-2010 – Expanding Access: The community captioning project begins, training volunteers to support local theatre groups. Some of these community captioners are still captioning today. In London, social groups spring up across all 32 boroughs, connecting audiences with captioned events.
Major cultural venues join the movement: Royal Academy of Arts, National Gallery, and Wellcome Collection embrace live subtitling making events accessible .
2010s – Independence and Growth: The Royal Shakespeare Company becomes the first to buy their own equipment. Plymouth Theatre Royal follows, and soon venues across the country are programming their own regular captioned performances with Stagetext-trained captioners.
2011-2014 – Recognition and Innovation: We receive recognition from Signature Awards for creating access to the arts for deaf, deafened and hard of hearing audiences. The Ambassador programme takes off, connecting us with our community, and we start pioneering new technology with innovative partners like Nesta.
2015 – A Week to Remember: We launch the first ever Captioning Awareness Week! An annual celebration bringing venues and audiences together nationwide to celebrate deaf access to arts and culture. Be a Caption Hero!
2020 – Adapting for Access: During the pandemic, our digital department expands rapidly and remote live subtitling becomes a key service. When the world changes, we change with it, finding new ways to keep access flowing.
2020-2022 – Touring Nationwide: We celebrate our 20th anniversary with the exhibition, Captions Speak Louder, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund. It goes on tour across the UK taking our message nationwide.
2023 – New Horizons: We move from our London office to the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, strengthening our connections across the South East of England whilst still delivering services around the UK.
2025 – Still Going Strong: 25 years later, with thousands of captioned and subtitled events under our belts, the fundamentals haven’t changed. We’re still deaf-led, still passionate, still believe in quality access, still opening doors with captioned and live subtitled events happening across the UK every week. Look what on in your area HERE.
