As part of Captioning Awareness Week, Stagetext is sharing stories about the positive impact theatre captioning and live subtitling has on deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people. We want to challenge misconceptions around deaf access and help people understand the transformative effect that quality deaf access can have.
Emily Jupp, one of Stagtext’s ambassadors tells her story of how she discovered theatre captioning by accident.
“I knew I was struggling to hear things properly for a couple of years but I only plucked up the courage to go for a hearing test this Summer. I was given hearing aids and told I was hard of hearing. It’s borderline and I can get by without the hearing aids – and I’ve been getting by for a while.
I’m a playwright, occasional TV writer and arts journalist. The thing is, when you gradually lose hearing, you only notice it in certain contexts. For example, I can go to an art gallery and have no problem understanding the curator because it’s one clear voice in a silent space, but theatre, which is one of my specialisms, isn’t so easy. Any show where music is playing at the same time as a voice or even groups singing in a musical, I find that the sounds blur and I can’t pick up on what they are saying.
My hearing aids make everything louder, so it’s still hard to distinguish and separate different voices. It’s embarrassing to admit that I struggle, because as a reviewer, you want to give the best, honest account of what you’ve seen and heard, but if you miss a line, is it really fair to pass judgment on a show? I always try to get the playtext, so I can double-check anything I wasn’t clear on before writing it up.
For a while, I thought maybe everyone was experiencing the show just like I was, but slowly I realised that it was just me that was missing out.
Around spring last year, before being told I was hard of hearing, I went to see Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal at the Old Vic which happened to be a captioned performance. It blew me away.
The captioning was not only clear and legible from my cheapish seats, it was beautiful! It was so thoughtfully done and it worked with the style of the show. What I noticed was I was that I was relying on the captions, just as I would when watching a film on TV. It made the experience so much better.
When I left the theatre, I felt energised and realised that normally I’m tired from having to try so hard to listen. It was a bit of an ah-ha moment.
Now, thanks to Stagetext, I try to book the captioned performance whenever I see there is one. It’s made my life as a theatre obsessive so much better.”
Find out what’s on near you
If you are interested in watching a show or event with captions and subtitles take a look at our What’s On pages.
Become an ambassador
If you love theatre and the arts and have lived experience of deafness, whether your own, or with friends or family, and are interested in becoming an ambassador for Stagetext, get in touch!
