Theatre for All - Accessible Performances Fund
At Leeds Heritage Theatres, we believe that the arts and culture have the power to change lives, improve well-being, and remind us of what connects us as humans.
It’s why we exist. It’s what we do. It’s what we love.
We want everyone to be able to experience our performances, screenings, and events but we know there’s more we need to do to make this happen and we need your help.
We would like to provide Accessible performances at all our week-long productions at Leeds Grand Theatre and increase the number of Accessible performances at City Varieties Music Hall. Accessible performances are those which have additional elements to support those with visual impairments and D/deaf or hard of hearing audiences.
Opera North Touch Tour at Leeds Grand Theatre. Credit Tom Arber
“Audio Described performances mean that as a totally blind person you can laugh when everyone else is laughing, cry when other people are crying. A totally blind person can have the same theatre experience as any sighted person. You don’t have to guess what is happening on the stage or wonder why everyone around you is laughing or what they are laughing at.”
Tmara Senior, audience member who has been blind since birth.
We have invested in new captioning equipment through a grant, but to pay the specially trained staff to deliver one of each of these types of interpretations per week costs £2,000. We have 15 weeks of week-long productions across our venues and our aim is to provide one of each type of Accessible performance for every show. This means we need to raise £30,000 to make this happen – ideally by Thu 31 August 2023.
“I have only ever managed to see one theatre performance with captions… and it completely changed my engagement with it and I enjoyed myself so much more!” Alice, audience member with hearing loss.
How you can help
We have had a generous legacy donation of £5,000 left to us in a will which we are using to start our Accessible Performances Fund*.
Your support will directly help to increase the number of Access performances that we can offer. It will change lives and help us reach new audiences who may otherwise not be able to experience the extraordinary feeling of connection we all get from shared performances.
1,000 people donating £10 would pay for five more weeks of performances to be audio described, BSL interpreted and captioned.
500 people donating £20 would pay for five more weeks of performances to be audio described, BSL interpreted and captioned.
200 people donating £50 would pay for five more weeks of performances to be audio described, BSL interpreted and captioned.
Access performances explained
Audio Description
Audio Described performances have the option of a live commentary to describe the action onstage for patrons with visual impairments. This is relayed over an infrared system to individual headsets which are available from the kiosk in the main foyer for a £5 refundable deposit.
BSL and Captions
During signed performances, trained BSL interpreters will stand in view of the audience to interpret the show while it is being performed. During Captioned performances, the dialogue is shown on screens at the front of the auditorium as it is spoken.
Relaxed Performances
Relaxed performances have a more informal atmosphere particularly aimed to welcome those with sensory difficulties or autism. Performances remain the same but with small adjustments, e.g. the house lights in the auditorium will remain on, loud noises are softened, and audience members are free to leave and re-enter.
Touch Tours
Before some Audio Described performances, Touch Tours may be available for blind or partially-sighted audience members to explore the stage and set, and can include handling selected props, costumes and scenery for familiarisation purposes.
Help us increase our Accessible performances
At Leeds Heritage Theatres, we believe that the arts and culture have the power to change lives, improve well-being, and remind all of us of what connects us as humans.
We believe that theatre is for all.
With your help, we hope to increase and improve our Access performances offering for audience members with visual impairments or who are D/deaf or hard of hearing. Thank you.
