Theatre opens doors for audiences with visual and hearing impairments

Dominique Boucher avoided theatres for 40 years because of his visual impairment. Now, as Quebec venues experiment with accessibility measures like audio descriptions and sign-language interpretation, he's stepping back into the audience—and finding it transforms the experience.

Théâtre du Trident in Quebec City has expanded services over the past three years, committing to at least one performance with audio descriptions and one with sign-language interpretation each season (September to May). Boucher has attended five productions there in recent years and says the difference is immediate. "With just a little adaptation, it's amazing, because you can follow along," he said.

One standout experience was a theatre-and-dance production featuring live audio description of stage action. "The person doing the description was live, so they could help situate you," Boucher explained. "I found it so enriching." The theatre also organizes pre-show sessions where audience members can meet actors and touch props or costumes to understand the scene before the curtain rises.

Montreal's circus venue La TOHU presented a performance for visually impaired audiences earlier this year with live play-by-play narration of acrobatic disciplines. Théâtre du Rideau Vert experimented with integrating deaf performers into a production of Michel Tremblay's "À toi pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou." The show featured sign language throughout, with deaf performers moving centre stage during key scenes—a choreographic choice that audiences particularly appreciated. The modifications—redesigned lighting, costumes, sets, and 20+ additional rehearsal hours—roughly doubled the production cost compared to a standard interpreted show.

These steps remain expensive, but they're opening doors that have been closed for decades.