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MU Theatre Now Accessible for the Hearing Impaired

“Open captioning,” which provides a scrolling dialogue on an LED screen is now being used by Millersville University Theatre in an effort to reach out to the hearing impaired.

On Sunday, Oct. 31, for the matinee performance of Moliere’s “School for Husbands,” open captioning was used for the first time. The 4-foot-wide by 1-foot-tall screen hung over the acting area in Rafters Theatre for audience members to see.

“The text of the play is entered into a laptop in a sign program and is manually advanced to keep up with the actors during the performance,” said Victor Capecce, communication & theatre professor. “Open captioning is favored over signing a performance because the audience does not need to know sign language and those with marginal hearing loss can refer to the screen as needed.”

The open captioning equipment is available to area nonprofit organizations that participate in the Lancaster-York Cultural Access Project. Training on the equipment is required for each organization; Capecce completed his training in December at the Fulton Theatre, which houses and schedules equipment throughout the region.

“We have had some immediate responses from two groups of audience members of different ages, who were pleasantly surprised to see the captioning,” said Capecce.

“The purpose of publicizing the captioning is to let those with hearing issues know about our enhanced accessibility. They do not have to identify themselves, make an appointment, obtain equipment or know sign language. Just look for the ‘OC’ logo on the performance date.”

The next performances scheduled to use open captioning are “Earth and Sky,” Sunday, Dec. 4, at 2 p.m. and “Heathen Valley,” Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m.

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