Invitation lost?
by Swantje Kawecki
I’m browsing through the programme, watching trailers, reading descriptions. Suddenly, I come across an offer of audio description for the play “Stickman” by Darragh McLoughlin – and I am intrigued.
So far I have only been familiar with audio description in the context of contemporary dance. There, it is not only about providing a verbal narration of what’s happening on stage during the performance. In some cases, there are also tactile tours at the start, during which people can develop a physical connection to the objects on stage, to the materials of the costumes. So now, for the first time in a circus context at the CircusDanceFestival: an invitation from contemporary circus to capture the visual, to include people who cannot experience performative art on the obvious level. Or could it perhaps even be conceived as an additional layer of experience for the audience?
I was certainly curious about the application in circus: Will the piece be reproduced, poetically interpreted, or described? While traditional approaches to audio description focus on describing the action to bridge a supposed gap, there are already more creative and, at the same time, more holistic alternatives. The goal here is not an exact translation of what is happening on stage – that is impossible anyway. Rather, the audio description itself becomes an independent aesthetic medium with integrated dramaturgy. After all, everyone in the room will perceive a performance differently anyway.
A few days before the performance, it was announced: the planned audio description has been cancelled because nobody signed up for it. The question is: why? Does the circus represent the visual experience too strongly for blind and visually impaired people to be interested in it? Do many perhaps think the circus isn’t meant for them anyway? Might there be a need in the future for more targeted outreach to associations, institutions and user groups, to invite them specifically and show them: these opportunities do exist? Should artists perhaps even incorporate a form of audio description or a form of dramaturgy for blind people directly into their work?
On the evening of the festival opening, I nevertheless find myself sitting in the performance by Darragh McLoughlin – and, ironically, a blind or visually impaired person is sitting directly behind me. I hear them talking about how they must have overlooked the information on the required sign-up beforehand. So, instead, the accompanying person provides a spontaneous live description of the play.
This suggests that a lesson for next year could be: to promote the offer (and the registration) more prominently on the website and actively reach out to the target audience. Then perhaps there will be some sign-ups next year.