The Royal Opera House is a well established cultural institution, known for world class artistic dance and music. Being on a global platform, the brand is strong and requires close attention to it's messaging, creative output and relatability to the modern world. The most recent showcase of ZooNation's Mad Hatter's Tea Party was no exception to their creative brilliance.
Running for one month in the Linbury Theatre, located downstairs in the Royal Opera House, ZooNation were perfecting the 10th anniversary of Kate Prince's Mad Hatter story. The version of the show was truly unique, with a re-imagination of CS Lewis's classic characters from 'Alice in Wonderland', giving them specific mental health issues that were highlighted in the show. Moreover, the show was performed in primarily a Hip Hop style, with other black cultural influences (house, funk, soul), a major step away from the usual style of performance seen at the Opera House. Refreshing in many ways.
With access becoming increasingly important across the arts, this was a great opportunity for the Opera House to not only showcase a new style of production, but also work creatively to enhance accessibility to become part of performances rather than just an add-on. Head of Access, Paul Adams at Royal Ballet and Opera, has continued to exude excellence in this space and was integral in bringing this project to life.
The team at Royal Ballet and Opera reached out to Acre Green as they wanted to deliver audio described performances that were stylised to match the show. In this case they wanted a hip-hop specialist/artist with understanding of theatre to deliver an audio described performance and Acre Green was able to do this. With strong connections and experience with Hip Hop culture, Acre Green developed a script and give an audio described performance that had real integrity. Furthermore, by developing an audio described show that has real integrity and creativity, the audience listening were given an experience that worked with the performance, ultimately making the show more enjoyable.
As part of the holistic access strategy, Acre Green was asked to produced an audio introduction that could be shared by the Opera House for attending audience members to listen to prior to the show. This was a crucial part of making the show fully accessible, especially when considering the diversity of needs from visual impairment, neurodiversity etc. The audio description helped paint a picture of what the show included from stage design, props used, the storyline and even character development.
Making the show easier to understand was a key function of the audio introduction, but in keeping with the power of sound and audio, a stylised audio description gave an indication to the shows style, and thematically placed the listener in the world of Hip-Hop, with integrity.
Have a listen to the Audio Introduction here: https://m.soundcloud.com/royaloperahouse/mad-hatters-tea-party-audio-introduction-2024
In terms of the audio described performances, the core focus was to make sure that the AD script flowed with the performance script, interacted well with the music and felt cohesive throughout. This required attention to detail with regards wording used. The pace of the wording had to feel balanced and the musicality of Hip Hop needed to shine at the right time. Being a hip hop artist and with extensive experience as an emcee, Ed Addo was able to deliver this with class and refinement. Working alongside highly experienced Audio Describer, Alice Gilmour, they developed a script that was truly sensational. Lyrical guides was established for sections that Ed would 'freestyle' when characters were dancing during the performance.
While most of the dance moves were the same, it was often the case that the style was altered from show to show, as well as different performers playing the characters. With this in mind, it was imperative that Ed maintained the integrity of Hip Hop and free expression within the AD style that supported the expressive nature of the dancing throughout the show.
This bold and creative approach to audio description has been an incredible move for the Royal Ballet and Opera, propelling the institution forward in terms of forward thinking access strategies. They have really set the tone for what can be done for performances to further embrace access into the creative process and continue to lead with cultural intelligence that keeps them at the forefront of artistic performance.
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