 | AUDIO DESCRIPTION IN SCOTLAND: News Page |
| AUDIO DESCRIPTION IN SCOTLAND: News Page |
Directions, programme of exhibitions and information on arrangements for the visually impaired.
A descriptive audio tour is available, and is included in the price of admission. For further information phone 0131 556 5100.
can make arrangements for the Visually Impaired.
There is often a Touch Tour available before an audio-described performance, when users of the service can explore the stage sets and handle costumes and props. Members of the production team are on hand to give insights into the production process. Many sighted patrons would love to have this opportunity. Don't forget to ask when you book whether there is a Touch Tour available. Often it is not possible to advertise these Touch Tours in advance in this Diary because the theatres don't know till the touring company arrives whether they can accommodate a Touch Tour. So ask when you book, or at the beginning of the performance week.
His Majesty's returns to the newly refurbished Theatre with an extensive programme of audio description:
The Sleeping Beauty;
Grease;
An Inspector Calls;
Dirty Dancing;
I Dreamed a Dream;
The Steamie;
Sister Act;
Legally Blonde;
Tosca.
Who or what are Birds of Paradise?
Here is an excerpt from their brochure:
BIRDS OF PARADISE is a professional touring theatre company, which produces adventurous and challenging work that places disability in the public arena. The Company has toured throughout Scotland for 12 years with inventive programmes of performances and workshops, both for traditional theatre-going audiences and people who have difficulty experiencing theatre due to disability or geographical isolation.
Click on this link to visit their web site.
2011 Festival finished.
No audio descriptions notified.
Please note Audio descriptions begin with a prologue ten minutes before curtain up.
Steel Magnolias;
Reasons to be Cheerful 2012;
Further Than the Furthest Thing;
The Tempest.
The Barber of Seville;
The King and I;
Betrothal in a Monastery;
Swallows and Amazons;
Hansel and Gretel;
Funny Peculiar;
The Rake's Progress;
The Steamie;
Calendar Girls;
Iolanthe;
Anne Boleyn;
Tosca;
Porgy & Bess.
Theatre closed for refurbishment.
2011 Season finished.
2011 Season finished.
2011 Season finished.
27;
Beauty and the Beast;
The Infamous Brothers Davenport;
Of Mice and Men;
The Marriage of Figaro;
The Lieutenant of Inishmore;
Curtains.
No audio descriptions notified.
Betrayal;
King Lear;
Krapp's Last Tape/Footfalls.
Dirty Dancing;
Sleeping Beauty.
No audio descriptions notified.
The Sleeping Beauty;
Hansel and Gretel;
The Rake's Progress;
Tosca.
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
Mother Courage and Her Children.
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
Someone Who'll Watch Over Me;
Moonlight and Magnolias.
Please note Audio descriptions begin with a prologue ten minutes before curtain up.
Perth Theatre arrange an Audio Bus to pick up locally and from the Bus and Train Stations, for a £1 donation.
TOUCH TOUR (must be pre-booked)
Touch Tours are available on all shows; please let Box Office know if
you would like a tour of the set, props and costumes. Tours are
organised to run on the same days as the Audio Described performances
and will commence at approximately 6.00pm on Thursday and 1.00pm on Saturday.
The Audio Bus runs on both of these days and arrangement for collection
before the Touch Tours can be organised.
Please contact Box Office on 01738 621031 to book your tickets. Contact Jen Hoy, Asst. Front of House Manager on 01738 472700 to book a seat on the Audio Bus, Touch Tour or for more information.
2011 Season shows:
My Fair Lady;
Henceforward ...;
See How They Run!;
Trelawney of the 'Wells';
Privates on Parade;
Dr Angelus.
There are no set dates for audio description at Pitlochry: they just do it on demand subject to availability! Audio Description is available for any play performance for people with visual impairments. Just phone the Box Office on 01796 484626 and the staff will check for availability. Please try and give at least 2 days notice prior to the performance.
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
The Sleeping Beauty - Glasgow Theatre Royal;
The Sleeping Beauty - His Majesty's Theatre Aberdeen;
The Sleeping Beauty - Eden Court Theatre Inverness.
Hansel and Gretel - Glasgow Theatre Royal;
Hansel and Gretel - Edinburgh Festival Theatre;
The Rake's Progress - Glasgow Theatre Royal;
The Rake's Progress - Edinburgh Festival Theatre;
Tosca - Glasgow Theatre Royal;
Tosca - Eden Court Theatre Inverness;
Tosca - Edinburgh Festival Theatre;
Tosca - His Majesty's Theatre Aberdeen.
For some years now Scottish Opera, with the support of Playback, Glasgow, has been producing pre-performance tapes for visually impaired users of the audio-description service. This is a wonderful service, unique to Scottish Opera. Each tape contains a synopsis of the action of the opera, a description of the stage sets and the costumes worn by the cast, a very informative talk by a senior member of the Music Department, about points to listen for in the music, and an interview with the producer.
Some users of the service may not know about these tapes, which are sent out free by Scottish Opera for audio-described performances in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness
Order your tape when you book your seat and headset. These tapes are only available to the visually impaired.
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (12A).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
The Descendants (15);
Tuesday 7 February:
The Iron Lady (12A).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
Chronicle (12A);
The Descendants (15);
War Horse (12A);
Saturday 4, Sunday 5 February:
Alvin And The Chipmunks - Chipwrecked (U).
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
Alvin And The Chipmunks - Chipwrecked (U);
Chronicle (12A);
Jack And Jill (PG);
The Descendants (15);
War Horse (12A).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
The Descendants (15);
Thursday 9 February:
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D (PG).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
Shame (18);
Friday 3 - Thursday 1 March:
Carnage (15).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (12A).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
The Descendants (15);
War Horse (12A).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
War Horse (12A).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
War Horse (12A);
Friday 3 - Wednesday 8 February:
Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (12A).
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
War Horse (12A).
No audio descriptions notified.
Friday 27 January - Thursday 9 February:
The Descendants (15);
Friday 3 - Thursday 16 February:
Martha Marcy May Marlene (15);
Saturday 4 February;
The Smurfs (U);
Saturday 3 March;
The Muppets Take Manhattan (U);
Saturday 24 March;
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (12A);
Saturday 31 March;
Mr Popper's Penguins (PG);
Saturday 7 April;
Hop (U);
Saturday 14 April;
Five Children and it (U);
Saturday 21 April;
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (U).
No audio descriptions notified.
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 2D (PG);
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D (PG);
War Horse (12A);
Friday 3, Saturday 4, Monday 6 - Wednesday 8 February:
Like Crazy (12A).
No audio descriptions notified.
Saturday 4, Sunday 5, Thursday 9 February:
Alvin And The Chipmunks - Chipwrecked (U).
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
No audio descriptions notified.
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
Puss In Boots 2D (U);
The Descendants (15).
No audio descriptions notified.
Friday 3 - Thursday 9 February:
War Horse (12A).
DVDs with audio description are available from wherever you get DVDs - Blockbuster, HMV, etc. Below is a list of films we have been made aware of by the R.N.I.B. We have not tested every one, but have been reliably informed that they have audio description. The a.d. track is just another of the eight available audio tracks on DVD. Some of these tracks are commonly used for director / cast commentaries. Pressing the 'audio' button on the DVD remote control selects the available audio tracks.
A full list of over 200 audio described DVDs on this website:
Some DVDs are available in different versions. If you have a REGION FREE DVD player you may be able to play some U.S. (region one) versions of Miami Vice (2006), Inside Man, United 93, Road to Perdition, The Grinch, Terminator 2 and Basic Instinct, and some Australian (region four) versions of Dead Poets Society, Hotel Rwanda, Pulp Fiction, Road to Perdition, Santa Clause 2, Spanglish, Stage Beauty.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Some U.K. DVD versions, such as special releases, or certain 'rental' versions DON'T have the a.d. track,
so double check before you purchase or rent!
Audio description is also available on video cassettes. The original soundtrack is replaced with an audio described track. Many libraries stock them. Over seventy video titles are now available including Insomnia, Billy Elliott, Calendar Girls, Chocolat, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, Lord of the Rings, Shipping News, The Emperor's New Groove, The Matrix, and many more.
To receive a Home Video Catalogue of all the available titles or to order a video, please contact RNIB Customer Services, or telephone 0845 702 3153 or email cservices@rnib.org.uk.
You can view titles on the RNIB site:
I have been greatly helped by Clive Miller of RNIB who produces a day by day listing for all terrestrial channels. The link to his listing, which is much more accessible than mine for the partially sighted, has been revised, as follows: TV Help Audio Description. Clive has now produced new listings of ALL the Audio described programs you can get on a SKY digibox. I strongly recommend a visit to the site.
The details are on the TV listings page.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Don't forget to check whether your area can receive Freeview before spending any money! (mine can't). Go to
the Freeview web site.
And if you can't get Freeview directly, you can get it by satellite with a Sky subscription.
Films showing on Freeview:
Monday 6th February: ITV 2 (6) 9:00pm Film: Gladiator (Certificate 15);
Monday 6th February: ITV 4 (24) 9:00pm Film: This is Spinal Tap (Certificate 15);
Monday 6th February: ITV 4 (24) 10:40pm Film: Escape From New York (finishes at 12:45am);
Monday 6th February: ITV2+1 (27) 10:00pm Film: Gladiator (Certificate 15);
Tuesday 7th February: ITV 2 (6) 8:00pm Film: About a Boy (Certificate 12);
Tuesday 7th February: ITV 2 (6) 11:00pm Film: Alexander (Certificate 15);
Tuesday 7th February: ITV 4 (24) 9:00pm Film: Tango and Cash (finishes at 11:05pm);
Tuesday 7th February: ITV2+1 (27) 9:00pm Film: About a Boy (Certificate 12).
It remains accessible on the Internet, at http://www.insightradio-net.com/, but is also available on FM radio at 101 FM.
ABOUT INSIGHT RADIO
Insight Radio is the new name for Europe's first radio station dedicated to the blind and
partially sighted community. Programmes are broadcast via this website and for listeners in Glasgow and surrounding areas
on 101FM.
Insight Radio provides a bespoke service tailored to the blind and partially sighted listener and we welcome your comments and feedback on our programmes.
If you or someone you know is blind or partially sighted and want to get involved in radio or gain some experience in radio programme making, production, research ... get in touch with the Insight Radio team for more details. Information on how to CONTACT INSIGHT RADIO is available here.
Thanks to all the theatres and galleries who contribute information!
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