Live theatrical performances are still a popular form of entertainment that people enjoy no matter their age. That said, there are certain accommodations that are unfortunately lacking that everyone in a theater audience could benefit from.
Live captions are typically accommodations for those who are deaf or hard of hearing and can work for many other entertainment media, not just theater. That said, surprisingly enough, live captions can also benefit the general audience in enhancing their enjoyment of a performance.
Since plays and musicals use heavy dialogue to convey the story, oftentimes, whether it be because of the music, the volume, or how fast a scene or song is going, audiences can easily miss what is being said.
If theaters were to permanently offer live caption accommodations, they could easily make a performance clearer to follow for the audience. Accommodations like captions have unfortunately been harder for Western audiences, mainly Americans, to warm up to in general. That said, time and time again it has been proven that disability accommodations can help not only people in that group but everyone else in general.
The stigma against these accommodations will be lessened once audiences actually sit through a performance that has them. Even though there would most definitely be a stubborn group that would absolutely be against their permanent addition, captions shouldn’t take away from these performances.
Regardless, a massive change like this won’t happen overnight; there would have to be an active effort from theater leadership and activists to get this ball rolling.
