ASL Interpreters Shana Gibbs and Christopher Robinson and Audio Describers Cori Couture and Andrea Doane
Open Captioned: Friday, July 26 (8pm) (Rain date: Sat, July 27 (8pm)
ASL Interpreted: Friday, Aug 2 + Saturday, August 3 (8pm); (Rain date: Sun, Aug 4 (7pm)
Shana Gibbs (ASL Coach) is currently attending Boston University Wheelock School of Education for her 2nd Masters in Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy after having completed her first Masters in Deaf Education, also at Boston University. She is a Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Associate Member and MARID member as a Deaf Interpreter. Her interpreting experiences include theatre, educational and community interpreting. As a community activist, she is currently serving as the Vice President of Community Relations for Massachusetts State Association of the Deaf (MSD).
Adrianna Neefus (ASL Interpreter) studied Sign Language Interpretation, and Theater, at the University of New Hampshire. Past credits include Romeo and Juliet, and Tartuffe with the Huntington Theater Company; The King and I, Cabaret, Pippin, Once, Flashdance, and War Horse with Broadway in Boston; Othello with the American Reparatory Theater; Romeo and Juliet with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company; The Edge of Peace with Central Square Theater; and the Boston Landmark Orchestra’s Summer Series on the Esplanade; She is thankful for the support of the Deaf community, without whom none of this would be possible.
Christopher Robinson (ASL Interpreter and Coordinator) has worked as an ASL/English interpreter for the five of the Huntington Theatre Company’s productions of August Wilson’s Century Cycle, among other dramatic productions. He worked as a Shadow Interpreter for the Craig Lucas’ play, I Was Most Alive With You, a Huntington Theatre production. Regional Theatre Interpreting venues: Commonwealth Shakespeare Company; Wheelock Family Theatre; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Seattle Rep; American Repertory Theatre; BCAP at Boston University. He works at Boston University’s Office of Disability & Access Services.
Brent Tracy (ASL Interpreter) is a dual certified ASL interpreter, CODA, and CEO of Equal Access Resources Inc. For the past 20 years, he has served as an interpreter, coordinator, educator, mentor, and artist. Some recent productions Brent has interpreted for include Richard III, The Play That Goes Wrong, 1776, and School of Rock. He is humbled to be working with a great ASL team of talented professionals to provide access on this show.
Audio Described: Saturday, August 3 (3pm); (Rain date: Sun, Aug 4 (7pm)
Backstage touch tour begins at 1:45pm. Patrons and their guests should gather near the Info Tent to the left off the stage.
Pre-show description begins at 2:30pm
Rain date is Sunday, August 4 at 7:00pm with backstage touch tour beginning at 5:45pm and pre-show description begins at 6:30pm.
Information about pre-show description:
Please arrive at the theater half an hour before the official curtain time to hear the pre-show audio description. Pre-show descriptions are packed with details which describers don’t have time to explain once the curtain goes up. These details include descriptions of sets, props, characters, the actors playing them, and their costumes. They can also establish a shorthand vocabulary for what describers will call certain characters or areas of the set and will explain the stylistic conventions of the show. In short, pre-show descriptions can greatly enhance the audio description user’s experience of live theater.
Cori Couture (Primary Describer) has provided description for the Huntington Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Open Door Theater, Moonbox Productions, Emerson Stage, New Rep, VSA of MA, Liars and Believers, Bridge Multimedia, and Harvard Business School. She has presented about live theatre for the Mass. Cultural Council’s UP initiative, for CANE (Cultural Access New England), and led pre-show touch tours at the A.R.T. In the early days of WGBH’s Descriptive Video Service, Cori wrote description for many PBS programs and for home video movies. Recently, she has been performing description narration at DVS.
Andrea Doane (Secondary Describer) has audio described productions at Boston theatre venues since 1992. These include among others: The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Showboat (Wang Center); Mary Stuart, Dead End (Huntington Theatre Co.); My Fair Lady, Beauty and the Beast, The Miracle Worker (Wheelock Family Theatre); Hamnet, Cold Blood, Kiss (Arts Emerson Theatres). In collaboration with the Cultural Access Consortium, she has co-led training workshops for Audio Describers in the greater New England area. In 2001, Andrea was honored by the Bay State Council of the Blind’s Outstanding Service Award for her work in providing theatre access through Audio Description.
Accessibility Programming Vendors and Partners
Braille Programs: Perkins Library
Audio Description Equipment: Terry Hanley Audio
Assisted Listening Devices: McCoy Audio Systems
