Berkeley Rep Announces Open-Captioned Performances for 'VANYA AND SONIA' & More

As Berkeley Repertory Theatre prepares to open a new season of exhilarating plays, the Theatre today announces that it will partner with Theatre Development Fund (TDF), a New York-based nonprofit organization, to offer open-captioned performances during its 2013-14 season. This state-of-the-art technology will allow Berkeley Rep to open its doors to a wider community by making performances accessible to patrons with hearing loss. Open captioning will be available for one performance of every show. For Nina Raine's off-Broadway sensation Tribes - about a young deaf man finding his place in a cacophonous family and a bewildering world - Berkeley Rep will offer three open-captioned performances.

"We are committed to eliminating any barriers that keep people from experiencing all that Berkeley Rep has to offer," states Susan Medak, managing director. "Thanks to this partnership with Theatre Development Fund, open captioning is now one more way that we can open our doors to all audiences."

"Open captioning is a great equalizer, a groundbreaking service for audience members with hearing loss," says Lisa Carling, director of TDF Accessibility Programs. "They feel included in the Live Theatre experience. There is no guessing on words or pretending to understand a line that evokes a strong response from others sitting around them. We are delighted to help Berkeley Rep make its performances more enjoyable and accessible to this broader audience."

Individual tickets for open captioned performances start at $29 and are viewable from at least 25 seats. Additional savings are available for season subscribers,groups, seniors, students, and anyone under 30 years of age. For details, call (510) 647-2949 or visit berkeleyrep.org.

The schedule for open-captioned performances in the 2013-14 season is as follows:
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike - Sunday, October 20, 2013 at 2:00 pm
The Pianist of Willesden Lane - Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Tristan & Yseult - Sunday, January 5, 2014 at 2:00 pm
The House that will not Stand - Sunday, March 16, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Accidental Death of an Anarchist - Sunday, April 20, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Tribes - Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Tribes - Friday, May 9, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Tribes - Sunday, May 11, 2014 at 2:00 pm
The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures - Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 2:00 pm

Berkeley Rep is ADA-accessible facility. Free assistive listening devices, scripts for the hearing-impaired, audio descriptions, and wheelchair accessible seats are made available for each show upon request at the box office. TDF provides captioning services through Caption Coalition (c2), a leader in best practices for live performance captioning. To date, c2 has captioned more than 800 theatrical productions in over 180 venues.

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