Miss-Delectable
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Belfast Telegraph
The Grand Opera House's new programme of events and brochure design was unveiled in the Malmaison Hotel in Belfast last Thursday.
Theatre director John Botteley outlined all the additional facilities that visitors can enjoy when the building reopens in October: four additional bars, a new eaterie called Luciano's and improved access to all floors will complement a mouth-watering programme of events.
Signed performances are programmed for most shows running for a week or more and when booking your seat please note that the interpreter will usually stand to the right side of the stage as you view it. The main auditorium and the innovative new Baby Grand are equipped with an induction loop system, as are each of the bars. The loop system greatly improves clarity of reception when you switch your hearing aid to the T setting.
The Opera House has a number of staff trained to British Sign Language level 1 and large print, audio-taped and Braille versions of the brochure are available on request. There is lift access to all floors and wheelchair spaces are now available in all areas of the main auditorium except the Gods.
Last Saturday Evelyn and I were visiting a young deaf friend who needs a wheelchair to get about and she told us the lack of a lift in the old Opera House made visits for interpreted shows very difficult. Our friends and others like her will be glad to know that a free carer seat is now available for customers who require essential assistance to attend the theatre.
Running from October 25-27, Listening Eyes, a vibrant and distinctive piece of dance theatre from the Green Candle Dance Company, aims to raise awareness and positive interest in deaf culture and sign language. Presenting a deaf child's view of the world, this show capitalises on young children's fascination with language and their affinity to physical exploration and expression. Workshops will take place prior to the show in the new Baby Grand suite and allow both hearing and deaf children to understand and enjoy the rhyme in the show, which uses the BSL finger spelling alphabet and basic signs. Cost per student is £5.
Captioned shows are available on different dates to suit patrons who prefer an English language translation of the dialogue or who find the signer distracting. Captioning is similar to subtitles on TV and the words are displayed either under or over the stage. But whatever system is used, deaf viewers have to sit near the front? the most expensive seats.
Perhaps the best-ever demonstration of getting deaf people involved in a professional production took place during the Queen's autumn Festival several years back when Shakespeare's Measure for Measure was played at the Whitla Hall with the excellent Peter Llwellyn Jones from London as interpreter.
Instead of a stage, the play was performed on the floor in the middle of the room with the spectators ranged around and the 15 or so deaf sitting entranced in the front row. Peter did his job inconspicuously from a spot in the background with the cast circling around and we could see all the speeches and by vibration feel all the action as the false Angelo got his comeuppance.
To help deaf patrons get to grips with the story, we had a summary of the play handed out before the start. It was a great evening.
Deaf people would probably feel more inclined to attend shows at the Grand Opera House if the signers or captions were on a more permanent basis - as with our TVs. And something needs to be done about the price of those seats.
The Grand Opera House's new programme of events and brochure design was unveiled in the Malmaison Hotel in Belfast last Thursday.
Theatre director John Botteley outlined all the additional facilities that visitors can enjoy when the building reopens in October: four additional bars, a new eaterie called Luciano's and improved access to all floors will complement a mouth-watering programme of events.
Signed performances are programmed for most shows running for a week or more and when booking your seat please note that the interpreter will usually stand to the right side of the stage as you view it. The main auditorium and the innovative new Baby Grand are equipped with an induction loop system, as are each of the bars. The loop system greatly improves clarity of reception when you switch your hearing aid to the T setting.
The Opera House has a number of staff trained to British Sign Language level 1 and large print, audio-taped and Braille versions of the brochure are available on request. There is lift access to all floors and wheelchair spaces are now available in all areas of the main auditorium except the Gods.
Last Saturday Evelyn and I were visiting a young deaf friend who needs a wheelchair to get about and she told us the lack of a lift in the old Opera House made visits for interpreted shows very difficult. Our friends and others like her will be glad to know that a free carer seat is now available for customers who require essential assistance to attend the theatre.
Running from October 25-27, Listening Eyes, a vibrant and distinctive piece of dance theatre from the Green Candle Dance Company, aims to raise awareness and positive interest in deaf culture and sign language. Presenting a deaf child's view of the world, this show capitalises on young children's fascination with language and their affinity to physical exploration and expression. Workshops will take place prior to the show in the new Baby Grand suite and allow both hearing and deaf children to understand and enjoy the rhyme in the show, which uses the BSL finger spelling alphabet and basic signs. Cost per student is £5.
Captioned shows are available on different dates to suit patrons who prefer an English language translation of the dialogue or who find the signer distracting. Captioning is similar to subtitles on TV and the words are displayed either under or over the stage. But whatever system is used, deaf viewers have to sit near the front? the most expensive seats.
Perhaps the best-ever demonstration of getting deaf people involved in a professional production took place during the Queen's autumn Festival several years back when Shakespeare's Measure for Measure was played at the Whitla Hall with the excellent Peter Llwellyn Jones from London as interpreter.
Instead of a stage, the play was performed on the floor in the middle of the room with the spectators ranged around and the 15 or so deaf sitting entranced in the front row. Peter did his job inconspicuously from a spot in the background with the cast circling around and we could see all the speeches and by vibration feel all the action as the false Angelo got his comeuppance.
To help deaf patrons get to grips with the story, we had a summary of the play handed out before the start. It was a great evening.
Deaf people would probably feel more inclined to attend shows at the Grand Opera House if the signers or captions were on a more permanent basis - as with our TVs. And something needs to be done about the price of those seats.