World first! Theatre Captioning App for smartphones and mobile devices launches in Canberra

Canberra Theatre Centre, together with The Captioning Studio, launched the world first theatre captioning application for smartphones and mobile devices this week.

Called GoTheatrical!, the application is described by ACT Government Minister for the Arts and Community Services Joy Burch as “a genuine world first, allowing Deaf and hearing impaired patrons to access live theatre captions directly on smartphones and mobile devices when attending captioned performances. We are proud that Canberra Theatre Centre will be among the first venues to implement this technology.”

Canberra Theatre Centre was one of the first venues to adopt live captioning. They have been providing it for seven years and this year will caption nine text-based dramas in its 2012 season, Collected Works.

“This advance means that wherever a patron sits in the venue they can access the captions through their own smartphones, and not have to rely on dedicated services supplied by the theatre, ” Burch says.

GoTheatrical! will be available for the 17 March matinee performance of Canberra Theatre Centre’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.

For more information, theatregoers can visit canberratheatre.com.au or theatrecaptioning.com.au