“This week I have had the absolute pleasure of learning how to become an Audio Describer with Taking Flight Theatre Company led by Louise Fryer, an audio describer and trainer extraordinaire .

As well as the brilliant Amelia Cavallo.

We had the added bonus of being able to put the work into practise by working alongside Illumine Theatre Company’s fantastic production of ‘2023’.

The training has been squeezed into a week and we have been educated in a multitude of skills and thrills of what goes into making work that is inclusive and accessible to people who are blind or visual impaired. We have looked at good practise in audio describing; from the many techniques into what is required vocally to the practicalities of where we set ourselves up, greeting users at venues, audio introductions and the touch tours before the performances.

We’ve been able to have fantastic discussions on how to script and present the work, the realities of the length of time it takes to do all of this as well as many discussions on how to implement this across Wales specifically. The hope being that this could be a core of people based in Wales who can make this type of access available in any venue anywhere in the country.

It’s been an extremely rewarding and challenging week. There has been a huge amount of information thrown at us, but it has been very much worth it.  A huge thanks goes out to Elise Davison and Beth House from Taking Flight for putting the training on, it has inspirational and I feel very proud to have been able to be a part of it.”

Owen has also taken part in Audio Decription training for Dance with Coreo Cymru and the Family Dance Festival. You can read and listen to an interview with Owen here

by Owen Pugh