Student Blog: The Wilma Theater's Aubrie Williams on Accessibility and Miz Martha

At the Wilma Theater, Aubrie Williams (Audience Engagement Manager) and fellow staff are dedicated to ensuring that accessibility for their shows isn’t an afterthought. As a multi-disabled woman working in the arts, I am highly passionate about arts access. So, I was excited to speak with Williams on how the Wilma is working towards being more accessible, including for their current production of The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington.

Williams only began working with the Wilma last year, but she and her colleagues have been working hard to ensure that anyone can enjoy a performance at the theater. She is particularly focused on eliminating access barriers for disabled patrons. As the Audience Engagement Manager, one focus has been working with others at the Wilma to expand staff knowledge on how to serve disabled audience members effectively to ensure a comfortable and accessible experience. The Wilma is also incredibly lucky to have the help of organizations like Art-Reach, Temple University's TechOwl and Institute on Disabilities, people like Nicole Sardella (Audio Describer), and members of the Disability community who have helped them immensely when it comes to what Accessibility offerings we can improve at the theater.

When Art-Reach approached Wilma to do an evaluation of their accessibility as a part of Project 76, Williams and colleagues were eager to participate. Art-Reach’s Project 76 aims to analyze the accessibility of Philadelphia-based arts and culture organizations, as well as provide them with a plan to transform organizations’ spaces and programming. To the Front of House and Community Practice Departments (the Wilma departments which take care of accessibility services,) this sounded like the perfect way for the Wilma to see what they were doing well and in what areas they could improve.

The Wilma already offers a variety of accessible performances for each of its shows. For Miz Martha, the run will end with two open-captioned performances and an audio described performance. Open-caption performances provide real-time, on-screen text display of dialogue and sound effects for patrons who are Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing. Audio described performances feature verbal narration of action taking place on-stage, as well as descriptions of sets, costumes, props, and more. Additionally, For the Audio Described show of The America Play, the description will include Audio Headshots that share the actors’ voices and visual descriptions are shared in pre-show notes.

Along with those offerings, the Wilma also has relaxed performances for patrons with sensory sensitivities. “The Education and Community Practices Department holds this work and are trying to improve [the relaxed performances] every time. We are also happy to have feedback from the community if they want to give it to us… Like with the audio described performances, you want it to benefit the people who want it. We’ve asked a bunch of other people, ‘what can we do to make it better?’ 

We always keep the house lights up so you can move around freely. We have a fidget table in the back, people will be there stationed the whole time and they can help you with fidgets, answer any questions. You can get up, grab one, [and] switch them out whenever you want. So there’s no restrictions there. We [also] try to adjust [the lighting and sound cues] to be more sensory-friendly.”

Williams spoke to me on the theater's work with other organizations to be more inclusive of the disability community. The Wilma's work with Art-Reach is just one piece of the puzzle. I met Williams through my time as an Assistive Technology Champion with Tech Owl, Pennsylvania’s Assistive Technology Lending Library Program. Tech Owl has worked with the Wilma in order to help them expand their AT offerings at their performances.

“For Snow Queen we rented from the tech library. [The Tech Owl team was] very helpful,” Williams stated. “We wanted some noise canceling headphones for anyone who wanted or needed them, so we borrowed kid and adult sizes to offer the audience. People are [also] always welcome to bring their own.”  

This is not the only type of assistive technology the Wilma has included in their accessibility services. Patrons can also acquire assistive listening devices at every performance from House Management. These devices, like open-captions, also improve the experience of Deaf/HoH patrons.

Williams, who also runs the theater company’s social media, described her experience working to improve their social media accessibility as well. She talked about adding alt text to their posts and the role that can play in representation. “I want to be as descriptive as the person wants and needs me to be, and I want to describe them how they want to be described. That is representation. The person taking in that info will feel connected to someone who they identify with. In terms of disability or anything really, I’ve been trying to do that.” 

Art-Reach’s Project 76 helped the Wilma identify other areas of digital accessibility that they can improve upon. “Part of Project 76 was an accessibility evaluation of our website. They pointed out all of the places we can improve, and while we did check a lot of the marks, there are so many things we weren't aware of that we are working on bettering now that we have this input.”

Access at the Wilma does not stop at access for the disability community. The theater also offers childcare matinees and pay-what-you-Wilma (or, pay-what-you-can) preview performances. The child-care matinee helps parents enjoy the show while their children are provided with affordable childcare through Music Theatre Philly. PWYW performances alleviate financial barriers to the theatre by allowing patrons to choose their own ticket prices for certain performances of a show.  Additionally, the Wilma offers $2 ACCESS tickets to all of their shows through Art-Reach.

Overall, the Wilma Theater is rising as an example of accessible theatre. Williams knows there is still more that the theater can do, as indicated by her own observations and that of collaborators like Art-Reach. Even so, whether it be for Miz Martha or another show, the Wilma aims to be a welcoming and inclusive theatre for all.

You can catch Miz Martha at the Wilma Theater until April 5th, and then afterwards via streaming from April 9th - May 3rd.