The Royal Lyceum Theatre – one of the oldest such venues in Edinburgh – has installed Auracast for the benefit of the 100,000 people who visit every year.
Based on Grindlay Street, the theatre, in addition to a packed programme throughout the year, is used by the Edinburgh International Festival. This August will host four such plays: the courtroom drama A Trial – After An Enemy of the People; the drumming showcase Ingoma! A Revolution in Rhythm; subversive and poetic Hang Time; and an epic that explores Palestinian folklore called Al-Sirah Ai-Hilaliyyah.
It recently hosted a performance of Lynn Nottage’s taut social drama Sweat, and then The Burns Project, an intimate, unique theatrical experience exploring the complicated life and legacy of Robert Burns.
Over the school holidays, there will be plays for families, including adaptations of Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s Zog and The Gruffalo.
The theatre installed Auracast last summer, making it among the first in Scotland to be kitted out in the new Bluetooth LE Audio assistive listening system. As with other installations, people can bring their own Auracast-enabled listening devices, such as headphones, earbuds, hearing aids, and Cochlears, or borrow receiver units into which a wired personal loop or headphones can be plugged, ensuring everyone can listen in.
Ian Gibson is the venue’s Head of Sound and AV. He told Aurahear that the team were impressed with the Auri system following a demonstration arranged by DM Audio and the makers Ampetronic.
It wasn’t the first time he had come across Auracast. He explains: “I first really heard about it through my membership of the Association of Sound Designers and Practitioners (ASDP), an industry body for people working in sound in events and the performing arts, where there are regular forum discussions about new developments.
“Assisted hearing is a regular topic, and something that designers give quite a bit of consideration to these days. It was during one of those discussions that someone described this new-ish system coming up and the potential of its facility to work with modern tech devices.”
The system has been “very well received”, and Ian has praise for it: “The quality and lack of latency both stand in considerable contrast to our previous FM Radio system.”
That FM signal had reached the foyer, which meant those borrowing the equipment could check it was working for them before going into the auditorium. With the Auri system, the signal currently doesn’t do this, and people have to check from their seats; this could be fixed with an additional transmitter box, something that other theatres have done.
While the quality of the sound transmitted by the Auracast is great, theatres have been offering assistive listening systems for years, just in different forms, as Ian notes: “I don’t think it’s taken us into any new areas we weren’t attempting before; it’s more that it just does the job so much more effectively.”
As with other theatres that have installed an Auracast system, funding has come from grants.
Lyndsey Jackson, The Royal Lyceum’s Executive Director: “We were delighted to be able to install Auracast after receiving funding to do so from the Foyle Foundation. It has vastly improved the theatre-going experience of our deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences.”
The Royal Lyceum’s website states that it subscribes to the Social Model of Disability. “If you have identified that there is a barrier to your attendance, we do not require you to provide any ‘proof’ of disability,” it reads, encouraging audience members to let them know what adjustments are needed, such as requesting an aisle seat or needing to be close to a bathroom.
This is important to Lyndsey and her team: “We want everyone to feel welcome at the Lyceum, and it is a priority for us to be able to offer a range of access provisions that enable everyone to experience the life-changing impact of theatre.
“From touch tours, captioned performances, BSL interpreted performances and accessible seating and pricing – we’re committed to ensuring that everyone who wants to watch one of our shows can.”
And the theatre is keen to do more if possible.
Lydnsey adds: “We will continue to invest further in audience experience, and anyone who can help us do so is welcome to get in touch.”
For more details, log on to: https://lyceum.org.uk/visit/access
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