‘Accessible Theater’ era begins at AKM

ISTANBUL

Technology is being transformed into benefit in cooperation with Türk Telekom and the General Directorate of State Theaters Istanbul State Theater. The new social responsibility project, titled “Accessible Theater,” aims to increase the participation of visually and hearing-impaired individuals in cultural and artistic events.

With surtitles and live description applications in the State Theater plays at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM), the project aims to offer an experience that overcomes visual, auditory and physical barriers.

Also, with a special stage tour to be organized before the play, visually impaired art lovers can experience a holistic theater experience by touching the play's decor, costumes and objects. They can experience the theater without missing any detail by using the live description application, where non-audio visual elements such as place, time, characters and silent events are explained instantly between dialogues.

The plays are also made accessible for the hearing-impaired art lovers with the use of a surtitle system.

Speaking about the project, Türk Telekom Corporate Communications Director Arif Sancaktaroğlu said the following:

“We work to transform the opportunities provided by technology into goodness and benefit. We aim to ensure that everyone with different needs has the opportunity to discover the beauty of art and cultural riches through social responsibility projects. With this motivation, we develop new technologies for accessible living and implement applications and projects that make the lives of disabled individuals easier. For example, we launched the Loud Steps application, which allows visually and hearing-impaired users to find their way easily in indoor and outdoor areas at the Atatürk Cultural Center, of which we are the main sponsor. Now, in cooperation with the General Directorate of State Theaters, we implement live description and surtitle applications for visually and hearing-impaired art lovers in theater plays.”

The Istanbul State Theater Director Mehmet Fatih Dokgöz said, “The moment the actors step on the stage, a relationship begins between us and the audience. We host them in different lives with the text of the play, the characters we create, our gestures, facial expressions and décor. The Accessible Theater project excites us very much because it will provide the opportunity to reach and touch more audiences. With the use of techniques such as audio description, surtitles and stage tour, our plays will be easier to view for visually and hearing-impaired audiences.”

The Accessible Theater project started with the theater play “Rumuz Goncagül,” produced by the Istanbul State Theater, written by Oktay Arayıcı and directed by Zafer Algöz, at the AKM Theater Hall on Jan. 6.

Visually and hearing-impaired art lovers who were invited to the play enjoyed the theater by having a barrier-free experience.