Published: Friday, 12th March, 2010 12:40pm

Eastgate first to offer audio service

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Anne Taylor who will host the new audio description being offered at the Eastgate Theatre.

A REVOLUTIONARY new service for blind and visually impaired arts lovers is to be launched in Peebles.

Theatre bosses at the Eastgate are introducing a new audio description service, which will be the first of its kind in the Borders.

The service offers a whole new dimension to theatre-goers by giving a live oral portrayal of a performance. Starting with an introduction to the show through headphones, the description covers staging, costume, lighting and the plot.

On some occasions there will even be a 'touch tour' for half-an-hour prior to the performance.

Guests will be taken on stage to find out about the layout of props and how they will be used during the show. Sometimes they will be able to speak with the actors and feel costumes - all allowing a spatial awareness on what is happening.

Enthusiastically delivering this latest service will be Anne Taylor, who recently qualified as a professional audio describer for theatre.

She explained: "The audio describer views a performance three or four times prior to the live broadcast so that she has a prepared script to deliver to her audience.

"The skill then, is in describing everything a sighted person would experience at a theatre performance, without overlapping the onstage dialogue."

Anne Taylor's interest in audio description developed from her professional background, working with visually impaired children and young people, alongside a lifetime's love of the theatre.

The first show to benefit from audio description is the Thursday performance of 'Two' when Kath Mansfield and Keith Lomas inhabit the funny, touching and mixed-up world of a pub, where eccentric customers are served by a bickering married couple.

Presented by Tweed Theatre in association with Odd Productions, the play runs from March 25-27. Anyone wishing to book 'Two' can contact the Eastgate Theatre.