Theatre for the blind receives funding

Theatre for the vision-impaired is just one of hundreds of Auckland art initiatives given a financial boost in the latest round of Creative Communities funding.

Auckland Council held a showcase event last night to display some of the community projects which received the grant.

Barbara Procter, sector investment leader at Auckland Council’s arts and culture unit, said the hardest part for assessors is deciding what to fund.

“One of the challenges of this job is we can disappoint two people for every one we make happy.”

She said an application was decided on participation in the arts, diversity and inclusion of young people.

“The whole idea is it’s activities the community themselves are running and managing, it’s not the council putting on something for you.”

The Doina Romanian dance group performing at the Auckland Council showcase of Creative communities art projects. Photo: John-Michael Swannix

This is the first funding round for 2016 with almost $1 million split between 291 community projects. Some of these include the Doina Romanian dance club, tikanga māori carving at Rongomai primary school, and hip hop group the Break NZ.

Another of the grant recipients, Tim Bray Productions, is using the funding to produce Bad Jelly the Witch and The Lion in the Meadow for visually impaired children. Mr Bray said the plays will have a focus on touch and sound.

“The children will be given a touch tour of the set to spatially realise what is going on. They then meet the actors so they recognise their voices and can touch the costumes and props.

“[They’re] given an earpiece in one ear and during the performance [a narrator] is describing the movements, what the actors are wearing, what emotions are showing on their face,” said Mr Bray.

Actor Kevin Keys is writing and performing the audio description for the two upcoming productions. He said the plays were challenging creatively but hugely rewarding due to the enthusiastic responses from the children.

Mr Keys said his fundamental job was to cover any plot points that were visual but also to try and capture the flavour and humour of the show.

“Ideally you try and set up humorous gags before they happen so the whole audience can laugh together. It’s a bit pointless if [the visually impaired kids] hear laughter and then they hear ‘what just happened is…’

“Sometimes you have to cheat a wee bit and describe what is going to happen five lines beforehand, because that’s the only place there is space to set the visual gag up.”

Tim Bray Productions, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has produced shows with sign language interpretation since 2004.

The audio-described performances of Bad Jelly the Witch and The Lion in the Meadow will be in July and September. More details can be found on the company’s website.

The second round of creative communities funding closes on August 26.