News

Have you taken advantage of our Audio Description performances?

12 June 2018

La traviata is our audio described production this Autumn…

If you love opera, are visually impaired or simply struggle to read the surtitles and you haven’t tried one of our audio described performances before, then why not give it a go this Autumn?

Once again we are offering audio description at a performance in three of our venues: Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, The Bristol Hippodrome and Birmingham Hippodrome, for performances of La traviata and along with the audio description, there will be one of our enlightening Touch Tours on offer too.

Our audio descriptions are given by our friendly and knowledgeable describers from Sightlines who have worked with us for years and so know exactly what you need to get the most out of your chosen opera. Via your headset they will guide you through the action on stage, from what a singer is wearing, to a facial expression or even if there is a dual to be fought! The idea is to provide a commentary on what is happening on the stage, things that you may miss, while obviously taking care not to interrupt the singing.

Taking part doesn’t cost anything extra and can add so much more to your evening, plus, if you also book on to the Touch Tour before the performance you can get an insiders’ experience of the set and costumes.

Our Touch Tours are led by one of our Stage Managers, Julia Carson Sims, so she is perfectly placed to give away all the staging secrets of the trade. The tours give you the chance to get on to the stage and touch parts of the set, props and sample costumes, to help you get a sense of the scale, detail and positioning of the production that the performance is set against.  

In Spring we had a couple of bloggers attend a tour to get an idea of what it entails – take a look at what Musical Theatre Lives In Me and Behind The Curtains thought. It’s nice to get the word out there among theatre goers that these opportunities exist, to open up opera to as many people as possible.

You can listen to a pre-recorded description on our website in advance, so keep an eye on our Access Performances page for more information on forthcoming performances.