Captions are similar to television subtitles and give people who are deaf, deafened or hard of hearing access to live performance. The actors’ words appear on an LED caption unit (or units), placed next to the stage or in the set, at the same time as they are spoken or sung.
Theatre and Dance NI have their own Captioning Equipment available to hire. The breakdown of the equipment specifications can be found in the Theatre and Dance NI Captioning Service Guide. This also details the cost of hire, booking process and a list of captioners.
Theatre and Dance NI Captioning Service Guide
All hirers will have to source and contract their own captioner to operate the equipment separately. An example of a Captioner Contract can below.
Theatre and Dance NI Captioner Contract Template
All hirers will have to source and contract their own captioner to operate the equipment separately. There is a set fee for the captioner of £540, not including travel expenses. Additional fees (payable at current NI National Living Wage £8.91) may be applied dependent on the circumstances – see full captioner contract for further clarification and details.
Hirers will be required to organise insurance cover for the duration of the hire of the equipment. Hirers are responsible for the safe collection and return of the captioning equipment. Please consider when booking equipment, an up to date script and dvd of the production have to be available a few weeks in advance in order to deliver a successful captioned show.
To book the captioning equipment, click here.Â