Fully captioned new play in Newcastle leads the way for accessible theatre
There's hopes a new, fully captioned play, at Newcastle's Alphabetti theatre this month can lead the way in more accessible performances across the industry
The team behind a new - fully captioned - play in Newcastle - say it's a real win for accessibility in theatre.
Soapbox Racer, written by Ben Schwarz, is on at Alphabetti until the 13th of May, and, thanks to a recent round of Arts Council Funding, every show will be captioned.
It means a captioning device will be situated above the stage for every performance, with all the dialogue appearing in real time.
Director Rosie Bowden tells us this will make a huge difference for audience members who have hearing issues, or may have trouble processing audio only;
"Theatre is for everyone. And I think, especially those with a disability, neurodivergence, sometimes those are the people who think theatre isn't for them.
"Making it accessible so everyone can enjoy it as equals, it's really vital we have those resources.
"You can come and see the show and it's a lot more accessible, a lot more easy to understand,
"It's been a really fantastic thing to have - even on the first night we had a group of international students come in -
"And that was lovely cause we'd just opened and already the show was accessible to someone who it wouldn't have been without that."
Writer Ben Schwarz tells us a little about the show;
"On the surface, it is about a 16 year old girl called Kay, who throws herself down a hill on a soapbox car - in order to try and impress her ex-boyfriend.
"But in the process she figures out... how to figure out who she is and define herself, and not define herself through the lens of some smelly boy!
"I'm very excited about bringing this play to Newcastle.
"It's a homecoming, really, for a play that's in some senses, about figuring out your relationship with home.
"The team here are incredible - I think they're building something really special."
In addition to every show being captioned, there will also be an audio described performance on Wednesday May 10th, and relaxed showings every Saturday at 1pm.
You can find out more about Soapbox Racer at Alphabetti Theatre online.