The Eyes Have It
NOTHING TESTS A GOOD IDEA QUITE LIKE AN unexpected problem.
During the final open-captioned performance of Colman Domingo’s Dot at People’s Light, the LED screens that transmit the play’s text to the audience malfunctioned near the end of the first act. The Malvern, Pa., venue son. Mostly it’s smooth sailin offers more than 50 captioned performances each sea g, but the possibility of such a snafu always lingers.
As the Christmas preparations of the fictional Shealy family of West Philadelphia descended into chaos onstage, the deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons in the audience faced blank screens. At intermission, technology specialists determined that the captioning could not be restored for the second act.
Luckily, the company had an ace up its sleeve. Earlier in the production’s run, People’s Light began piloting Smart Caption Glasses. Worn by audience members during a performance, the glasses project dialogue directly onto the lens, allowing the wearer to follow the action without having to glance toward the sides of the stage, where caption screens are usually placed.
The technology—pioneered at the National Theatre in London and brought to People’s Light through a partnership with Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities—had proven successful with beta testers.
