David Bellwood, who is head of access at the National Theatre, and before that The Globe, discusses the importance of 'predictable adaptability' - how organisations must become reliably able to change and adapt to customers requirements - the value of a figurehead for access, and tells me about exciting projects such as using a young visually impaired actor to audio describe a family show, training lighting designers in photosensitivity, and much more!

Links

The National Theatre – the UK’s national theatre

https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/home/

Frozen Light Theatre – multi-sensory theatre company for people with PMLD

https://www.frozenlighttheatre.com/

Reid My Mind – great podcast all about audio description

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/flipping-the-script-on-audio-description-the-youngest/id1109751505?i=1000666837438\

Tourettes Hero - a place to celebrate the humour & creativity of Tourettes.

https://www.touretteshero.com/safe/

Flash Cue Project – educating lighting designers on photosensitivity

https://flashcues.com/

Ramps on the Moon – challenging ableism, elevating disabled people on and off stage and reshaping the mainstream cultural sector

https://rampsonthemoon.co.uk/

Thanks for listening! You can see all episodes on my website www.alicegilmour.com.

Tim Yates leads the Research and Innovation Programme at Drake Music, an organisation dedicated to helping musicians with disabilities discover or co-design instruments that work for them. Collaborating with tech companies, coders, and instrument makers, they are pushing the boundaries where music and technology meet.

When we spoke in May, Tim explained how Drake Music is working to develop a kind of one-stop hub—a database and showcase space—for the many inventions and creative ideas emerging in this field. The aim is to share these innovations more widely and make them accessible to all.

Links:

Drake Music

https://www.drakemusic.org/

Tim Yates (page on DrakeMusic website)

https://www.drakemusic.org/team/11116/

Paraorchestra

https://paraorchestra.com/

The Kellycaster

https://www.drakemusic.org/technology/instruments-projects/the-kellycaster/

MiMU Gloves

https://mimugloves.com/gloves/

Sony - Inclusive Design

https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/accessibility/initiatives/

OrchLab at the London Philharmonic Orchestra

https://lpo.org.uk/project/orchlab/

Thanks for listening! You can see all episodes on my website www.alicegilmour.com.

This is a detailed and comprehensive chat about the technology used in theatres for assistive listening and audio description. James has a huge amount of knowledge and experience in this area, and we look at all the different options out there - loop systems, infrared, radio, WiFi, and Bluetooth including Auracast - and discuss the pros and cons of each one.

Links:

James Bottrill - email

orchard.audio.services@gmail.com

Ampetronic

https://www.ampetronic.com/

Listen Technologies

https://www.listentech.com/

Sennheiser

https://www.sennheiser.com/

Williams

https://williamsav.com/

Thanks for listening! You can see all episodes on my website www.alicegilmour.com.