Transcripts

text | pdf |

---

TODD MOE: Audio describers are often referred to as verbal camera lenses. They recount the visual aspects of an event or setting, allowing those who are blind or have low vision to better understand theater, parades, and television, among other things.

MARIE GRIFFIN: Just anything that has a visual element should be available to people who want to see it.

TODD MOE: Mary Griffin has audio described more than 50 plays and events in Minnesota over the past seven years. Before actually describing a play to her audience, Griffin attends three or four performances and sits in on discussions between the director, actors, and set designers. Griffin says our eyes process an enormous amount of information, and audio describing is more than storytelling.

MARIE GRIFFIN: The production tells the story. I just give the visual cues that aren't available to people who can't see. What comes in my eyes comes out my mouth. I have to honor the story so that what I do doesn't overwhelm or interfere with the story.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

TODD MOE: At her recent production of Black No More at the Guthrie lab in Minneapolis, Griffin took her seat in the lighting booth, where she has a clear view of the stage and audience. She provides a verbal pre-show tour of the stage to those who requested audio description. They're given radio earphones that pick up Griffin's comments.

MARIE GRIFFIN: If you think about the steps that you came down as being at 5:00 o'clock, the actors enter from spaces at 4:00 o'clock, 7:00 o'clock, 10:00 o'clock, and 1:00.

TODD MOE: Sometimes before a show, she'll lead visually impaired audience members on a tactile tour of the stage, props, and costumes. Once the play has begun, it's Griffin's job to guide the audience through the production with concise, objective descriptions of scenes, costumes, and body language.

MAX: Madam, I understand you are terribly upset. Now, this is what is known in science as an unintended outcome.

[LAUGHTER]

MARIE GRIFFIN: Max, golden blonde, softly smoothed, wavy hair.

MAX: Come on, buddy. Let's get out of here. About to turn into a mackerel or something. I'm about to set off some fireworks before the election.

MARIE GRIFFIN: He looks at one foot, then the other, stands up.

MAX: --than you do about eugenics.

MARIE GRIFFIN: Max walks diagonally across. What are you going to do with him?

TODD MOE: Audio description began in the early 1980s at the arena stage in Washington, DC. At selected performances, the theater used its sound system to provide extra information for people who are visually impaired. The service is now offered at dozens of theaters nationwide. Eric Peterson is a board member of Very Special Arts Minnesota, which works to provide access to the arts for people with disabilities. Peterson, who is visually impaired, worked with the Guthrie Theater in developing audio description.

ERIC PETERSON: Programming is something that people usually don't think of. When they talk about access, they think of physical accessibility for wheelchairs, but they don't think of ASL interpretation or audio description. It's still quite new to a lot of people.

TODD MOE: The Guthrie Theater has offered audio description of all its productions for the last five years. Guthrie audience services manager Pam Truesdale says anyone who wants to experience live theater is an important audience member.

PAM TRUESDALE: As far as numbers, when we started, we were thrilled to have six people using the service. Now it's not surprising for a show to have 35 people using the service. This is a constituency that's going to do nothing but grow.

TODD MOE: Marie Griffin says describing light to someone who's never seen it was one of her biggest challenges as an audio describer. She experimented with different types of paper to translate the visual experience of light.

MARIE GRIFFIN: Tissue paper, cardboard, foam core to say that light sometimes shows up as something very almost not there or sometimes it just feels like you trip over it and try to get a tactile relationship to something that is strictly visual.

[MUSIC, APPLAUSE]

TODD MOE: Even though she is unable to see, Carol Barnett is an avid Twin Cities theater goer. She says audio description at the Guthrie's production of Black No More gave her a measure of independence.

CAROL BARNETT: There was a tremendous amount of commotion and action and quick changes of who was doing what and where they were. And without her describing all that, I wouldn't have-- really would have been in total confusion. No, I mean, I feel like I saw the play because of Marie's description.

TODD MOE: Although it's been around for almost 20 years, audio description is still in its infancy. A handful of public television stations are using audio description for shows such as Masterpiece Theater, Nature, and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and some movie theaters offer the service. Marie Griffin, who has worked with a number of theaters and other groups in the Twin cities, says her next project is producing audio descriptions of events at Fort Snelling for the Minnesota Historical Society. I'm Todd Moe, Minnesota Public Radio.