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TBPAC audio describers to bring theater to visually impaired
Tribune photo by Julie Busch
Audio descriptive consultant Deborah Lewis instructs a group of volunteers at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center Thursday. TBPAC will offer audio description at some shows for the visually impaired.
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Published: June 12, 2009
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TAMPA - Visually impaired people will soon be able to experience stage productions as never before at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
A team of "audio describers" began training this week to learn how to explain the action on stage to those who can't see it.
They are learning how to use the best descriptive phrases, how keep up with the action and how to explain what is happening without interrupting the flow of the performance.
"It's a challenge to be able to describe what actors look like, what they are wearing and what they are doing without stepping on their lines," says Deborah Lewis, an audio description trainer from Los Angeles.
Lewis will be describing the musical "Annie" at 8 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday as part of the training for 10 new "audio describers" hired by the Center.
The trainees will test their skills by audio describing the performance of "STOMP" on June 20 and 21.
The visually impaired who want to attend any of these performances can obtain a headset at the theater information desk after purchasing a ticket.
The narration will originate from a booth at the back of Carol Morsani Hall where the describer can see the play. It is transmitted to listening devices provided to the blind or vision impaired.
"This is an effort to expand our audience and provide a much-needed service for people who might not have been able to attend a production," says Kari Goetz, Audience Development Manager at the
Center.
Goetz is taking the training, too. "It' part of our 'open door' policy to make sure the Center is open to anyone," she says. "This is something we have seen a need for because there a growing awareness nationally that this kind of service is available."
Lewis has been involved in audio descriptions since 1987. She helped establish Audio Description in Georgia through her work as the executive director of Special Audiences whose mission it was to make the arts accessible to people with disabilities. She described the premiere season of 16 plays for the Alliance and Academy Theatres in Atlanta.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1997, she established Audio Description Los Angeles (ADLA) and the Los Angeles Radio Reading Service. In addition to training describers for several major theaters, she helped start live audio descriptions of the Tournament of Roses Parade.
"I've found that many people who are blind were going to plays and having a friend or relative whisper to them, describing what's happening," she says. "This can be a distraction for those around them and it's hard on the person who is trying to describe it."
Lewis says that to prepare for describing a play, she first views the play and takes detailed notes.
"You need to describe the stage, the props and even the lighting if it applies, as well as where the actors are and how they are dressed," she adds. "You also have to be aware of the emotions and explain, for example, when a character is crying, or frowning, or smiling."
Lewis says some plays are harder to describe than others. The hardest to describe, she says, is something like the comedy "Noises Off" (a fast-paced frantic comedy about a play within a play).
Most of the people who were selected as audio describers have acting backgrounds.
Jen Rae, 32, an actor from St. Petersburg, says her improv experience, will help her create visual images for audience members who have been unable to experience that before. The play she is most eager to describe is "Mary Poppins."
Steve Garland, 42, another from St. Petersburg, says he previously worked for the WUSF radio reading service (for the visually impaired) "I am primarily interested in giving back to the community" he says.
Trainee Careena Cornette, 26, a Tampa actor, says she feels that she is getting in on the ground floor of what will become a growing need as the baby boom generation ages. "I think there will be more demand in the future for this," she says.
Goetz says the service will be offered on a regular basis (at matinee performances) during the upcoming theater season which begins in the fall.
Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654
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