Has one of your New Year's resolutions been to include
more culture in your 2014?
We’ve put together a guide on a few things that might
interest you in the coming year. We’ll start off with the Sydney Festival which
gets underway in just a couple days’ time.
Sydney
Festival
Sydney Festival supports the Companion Card program and
will issue a second ticket at no cost to a Companion Card cardholder. Please
contact Sydney Festival directly to assist with your booking on 02 8248 6500 or
email access@sydneyfestival.org.au.
Most of the venues for Sydney Festival performances are
accessible for wheelchair users and people with limited mobility. There’s lots
of free events too. Double check the venues via the Sydney Festival website.
Festival in the Domain
For performances in the
Domain, limited parking spaces will be available for Mobility Parking Scheme
Permit Holders and must be booked before the event on 02 8006 5700. An
accessible viewing area for patrons with disability is located on the eastern
side of The Domain between Tower 6 and 7.
Sacrilege
On Tuesday 14 January and
Tuesday 22 January between 9am-10am there will be a Baby Bounce and
Accessibility session. These sessions are for parents with young children that
can't yet stand independently and people with a disability and their
companions.
(Bounce enthusiasts with
young children or access requirements will also be catered for every day
Sacrilege is open. If you can't make the Baby Bounce and Accessibility session
feel free to visit at any time and make yourself known to the Audience Marshall
and arrangements will be made to facilitate access).
Please note that Sydney
Festival staff are unable to provide mobility or other types of physical assistance.
If you need assistance please bring a support person with you.
The
following performances in the 2014 Festival will be audio described:
Black Diggers Audio
described performance: January 26 at 5pm, with a tactile tour at 3pm. Bookings
essential.
Dido & Aeneas Audio described performance: January
19 at 5pm, with a combined tactile tour and audio description at 3pm (please
note that the performance itself will also now be audio described). Bookings
essential. Pre-show notes, libretto and
synopsis will be sent out 48 hours prior to the performance. Please advise if you would
like to make use of this service when booking your tickets so that you can be
allocated a seat with a good view of the captioning screens.
The
following Sydney Festival performances in 2014 will be captioned:
Bullet Catch Monday
January 20 at 7.30pm
Surtitled
Performances - A
number of foreign language performances will also be fully surtitled (the
translation of dialogue only onto a screen above the stage):
His Music Burns,
Carriageworks Bay 17, performed in English and French with English surtitles
Lao Qiang, Everest
Theatre, Seymour Centre, performed in Shaanxi dialect with Chinese and English
surtitles.
La Voix Humaine,
Carriageworks Bay 17, performed in Dutch with English surtitles
The Turk in Italy,
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, performed in Italian with English
surtitles
Opera
House
The Sydney Opera House features accessible theatres for
wheelchair users and the Companion Card is accepted for all
performances at Sydney Opera House. The Opera House has a number of its
performances throughout the year accompanied by audio description, open
captions, and Auslan interpretation.
They also feature throughout the year Accessible
Performance for Kids. This includes audio description and Autism friendly
performance.
The Autism friendly performances are provided in a
supportive and non-judgemental environment with slight modifications to sound
and lighting, downloadable pre-visit social story, support aids (including
fidget toys, weighted lap pads, textured mats) an open door policy and quiet
areas set up in the foyer.
The following shows have accessibility options available.
Live Captioned: Wed 23 Apr 11am
Audio-Described Performance: Fri 2 May 6.30pm & Sat 3 May 1pm
And for the grown-ups there are accessible options
available for other performances at the Sydney Opera House.
Surtitles
Surtitles
in English are projected above the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage for most
opera productions. Additional surtitle screens have been installed at the
front of the venue so that they may be read from the wheelchair seating area
and nearby seats. This view is available from Row D, Seats 14 & 36
outwards, Row E seats 14 and 36 outwards, and from the entire row in Rows F and
G.
Some seats in the venue are not able to view the
surtitles so please advise Box Office of your requirements when booking tickets.
The Opera House also features a FM Radio system to assist
with hearing. Receivers and headsets are available from cloakrooms prior to the
performance.
This FM radio system is also compatible with hearing aids
via an induction loop.
Throughout the year, certain productions will also have
Auslan interpretation. Check the Opera
House website for more details.
Belvoir
Theatre
The
Belvoir Theatre in Surry Hills is fully accessible for wheelchair users and
accepts the Companion Card.
For
each of the Belvoir’s productions, they present one free
performance for unwaged audiences. Unwaged performances are usually on a
Thursday at 2pm. To claim your ticket visit the Belvoir Box Office in person
from 12 noon on the day of the performance and present a Pensioner, Health Care
or Veterans’ Affairs Card.
During
the year certain Belvoir productions will be accompanied by audio description
and captions.
There is also a hearing loop in both theatres which can
be accessed via the t-switch on hearing aids.
Sydney
Theatre Company
The Wharf Theatres, Sydney Theatres, and Drama Theatre
(at Sydney Opera House) are all wheelchair accessible as well as accepting the
Companion Card.
Sydney Theatre in conjunction with STC present
audio-described performances of specific productions throughout the year for people
who are vision impaired. Some of these performances include a workshop and tour
of the set prior to the performance, to enable the vision impaired patrons to
familiarise themselves with the physical aspects of the production - including
the shape of the cast!
In addition, up to three productions per year are professionally signed (AUSLAN
Interpreted) on stage for the hearing impaired. These services are offered with
specially reduced ticket prices to encourage greater access.
Hearing enhancement systems are available in all
theatres. The Infrared System (available at the Drama Theatre) caters for those
without hearing aids by using a headset available from the theatre's Front of
House staff. The Induction Loop system (available in Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney
Theatre and Drama Theatre) caters for those with newer hearing aids or hearing
aids with T switches. As some seats may be 'out of range' STC ask that you let them
know your needs on your Booking Form.
For further information visit Sydney Theatre Company's website.
Riverside Theatre – Parramatta
The
Riverside Theatre features wheelchair access to all venues within the complex
as well as accepting the Companion Card.
Hearing
assistance via a hearing loop and earpiece / receiver is available in all 3
theatres. You can pre book this service, which is recommended as there are a
limited number of units available.
Audio
description for certain performances is also available throughout the year.
Casula Powerhouse
The Centre is fully wheelchair accessible, including
toilet facilities and a lift to all floors. There is also a hearing loop in the
theatre. Throughout the year the Powerhouse provide many workshops and tours
for people with a disability and have recently started introducing Auslan
interpretation to selected theatre productions.
Casula Powerhouse runs bi-monthly art classes for people living with mild to
moderate physical and intellectual disabilities. Classes are $5 per
participant, carers are free.
The Concourse - Chatswood
The Concourse is one of Sydney's newest arts venues, opening in September 2011. It is wheelchair accessible within all venues and stages, service desks and back-of-house facilities. There is an Assisted Listening System which is offered in the Theatre, concert Hall, foyer and bar areas.
OpenMi Tours
As well as the above venues
featuring accessibility options, we thought we’d mention a great smart phone app that has
been developed to provide audio tours in captions, and Auslan as well as audio
in English.
Currently the list of venues that have supported the app
through their exhibitions include:
For further information on OpenMi Tours visit the developer's website here.
This is by no way an exhaustive list of everything that's available, but we hope it gets you thinking about getting out and enjoying some of what's on offer!
