March 7, 2016

King James plays

roger hall             posted 7 Mar 2016, 02:30 PM

went to all three James plays over the weekend, but missed a huge % of the dialogue. Yes, at my age my hearing is compromised, but it was the Scottish accents that mostly defeated me. I don’t think I head one word Blythe Danner uttered, missed most from some of the other women, and a lot from several men.

NZers who saw the show in Edinburgh said there were surtitles provided. What a blessing they would have been. If in the Scottish capital it was thought necessary to have surtitles, surely even more so in Auckland in a venue that isn’t kind to  actors anyway.

RH

roger hall             posted 7 Mar 2016, 02:36 PM

in previous note my sentence should have read: “I don’t think I heard one word Blythe Duff uttered.” (Sorry)

Meredith McGrath          posted 7 Mar 2016, 03:57 PM

Hi Roger

The James Plays season in Edinburgh was also without surtitles expect for one performance held for the Audio and Visually Impaired. Perhaps it was this performance your friends were referring to?

Regards

Meredith McGrath

Auckland Arts Festival

roger hall             posted 7 Mar 2016, 04:26 PM

thanks Meredith, and yes that must have been  the performance they went to.

But it does raise the point that many Gold Card holders are audio impaired and while hearing aids are some help, they are  still not the answer. I know several people who have given up going to theatre because they can’t hear. I wonder if the Festival considered doing some of the James plays with surtitles? They would have added enormously to the enjoyment of this great piece of theatre. Easy to comment with hindsight, of course, but maybe in future the organisers might consider which plays might benefit from that extra service. Thanks RH