RNIB Connect

Now for the next in our regular slots here on RNIB Connect Radio highlighting what is on offer at the National Theatre in London for blind and partially sighted people with audio description.

Our Toby Davey was joined again by David Bellwood, Head of Access at the National Theatre to chat about a few up-coming audio described shows at the National Theatre and a couple that are available online with audio description too via ntathome.com

Audio described performances included:

The much loved best-selling book ‘Ballet Shoes’ is spectacularly reinvented for the stage in a new adaptation by Kendall Feaver. In a crumbling house full of dinosaur bones and fossils, three adopted sisters – Pauline, Petrova and Posy – are learning who they are and what they want to be.

Under the watchful eyes and guidance of their guardian Sylvia, Nana, and some unlikely lodgers, they fight to pursue their individual passions. But in a world that wasn’t built for women with big ambitions, can they forge a future, keep their family together, and even learn a dance or two along the way?

‘Ballet Shoes’ will be audio described on Saturday 21 December at 1.30pm with  touch tour at 11.30am and on Thursday 30 January at 7pm with a touch tour at 5pm in the National Theatre’s Olivier Theatre.

Max Webster directs a joyful and flamboyant reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated comedy ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’ with Olivier Award-winner Sharon D Clarke, Ncuti Gatwa and Hugh Skinner in this hilarious story of identity, impersonation and romance.

The Importance of Being Earnest’ will be audio described on Friday 10 January at 7.30pm with a touch tour at 5.30pm at the National Theatre’s Littleton Theatre. 

From ntathome.com with audio description David recommended ‘Vanya’ and ‘Nye’ both available from ntathome.com

To find out more about the National Theatre’s audio description offer and services for blind and partially sighted people do either call the NT on 020 7452 3961 or visit the NT website - https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

And for more about ntathome.com and to view many theatre productions online with audio description do visit - https://www.ntathome.com

(Image shows National Theatre logo, A capital N and T in black against a white background)

The exhibition ‘The 80s: Photographing Britain’ at Tate Britain is a landmark survey looking at the decade as a pivotal moment for the medium of photography. The exhibition brings together nearly 350 images and archive materials from the period, exploring how photographers used the camera to respond to the seismic social, political and economic shifts around them. Through their lenses the show considers how the medium became a tool for social representation, cultural celebration and artistic expression throughout this significant and highly creative period for photography.

During the Press View of ‘The 80s: Photographing Britain’ on Tuesday 19 November 2024 RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey sat down with Assistant Curator of the exhibition Jasmine Chohan to find out a bit more about the exhibition, the use of photography during the 80s to document changes that were happening in Britain during this decade and how people were responding to the changes too.

The exhibition ‘The 80s: Photographing Britain’ continues at Tate Britain until 5 MAY 2025. Audio described tours of the exhibition with one of Tate’s Visitor Engagement Assistants can be booked in advance by either emailing [email protected] or calling 020 7887 8888.  

More details about ‘the 80s:  Photographing Britain’ can be found on the following pages of the Tate website - https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/the-80s-photographing-britain

Image shows 'Joy Gregory, Magenta dress with pink tulips 1985', a figure in a magenta pink dress facing away from the camera, holding a tulip in one hand over their head and leaning with the other hand on a table with a green cloth over it with a vase of tulips on top.

RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjardeng MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for the next in his regular Connect Radio theatre reviews.

This week Vidar was reviewing a new production of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s stage in Stratford-upon-Avon where guilt has nowhere to hide, except in hearts and minds with description by Professional Audio Describers Julia Grundy and Annette Stocken.

About ‘Othello’

Othello is at the peak of his powers: not only Venice’s greatest general, but now husband to the noble and beautiful Desdemona. But he does not know that in passing over his servant Iago for promotion, he has created a deadly – and brilliant – enemy.

John Douglas Thompson (Till, Theatre for A New Audience’s The Merchant of Venice) takes the title role opposite Will Keen (Operation Mincemeat, Wolf Hall) as Iago and Juliet Rylance (McMafia, Perry Mason) as Desdemona, in this new production from director Tim Carroll (Artistic Director of Canada’s Shaw Festival and director of the award-winning Twelfth Night and Richard III featuring Mark Rylance at Shakespeare’s Globe, in the West End and on Broadway).

For more about access at the Royal Shakespeare Company along with details of audio described performances of their productions do visit -

https://www.rsc.org.uk/your-visit/access

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As we move from week 9 into week 10 of Strictly Come Dancing our RNIB Connect Radio Strictly Star Reviewer blind ballroom dancer Shaun Hayward is back reflecting and commenting on how well blind Liverpudlian Comedian Chris McCausland and his Professional Dance Partner Dianne Buswell have been faring in the competition. 

With this week being the Blackpool special coming live from the famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom on Saturday night (16 November 2024) with Chris and Diane performing the first dance of the night with an American Smooth to Jump by Paul Anka after a fantastic dance by the Professional Dancers to The Pet Shop Boys playing a live medley of their hits Toby began by asking Shaun about this great start to the Blackpool special before finding out what Shaun felt of Chris and Dianne’s American Smooth.

Then to how some of the other couples had done on Saturday night with praise again from Toby for Sarah and Vito!

Ending as usual with Shaun and Toby discussing whether it was the right choice for Wyn and Katya to leave the competition.

To follow how Chris and Dianne are progressing through Strictly Come Dancing 2024 along with how all the other dance couples are fairing in the competition, do visit the following Strictly Pages of the BBC website - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq

(Image shows Shaun in a recording studio with microphones behind him in front of a colourful drape holding a plaque with medals on in each hand)

In this series, archaeologist Simon Tinsley guides us through one of the most dominant, but least understood powers in ancient Greece, the Spartans. In this episode, how were the Spartans governed and why was the approach so different to the rest of ancient Greece?  

Each month, RNIB Connect Radio's Allan Russell talks with Anne Hornsby from MindsEye Description. 

Audio Description makes television, movies, galleries  and other arts venues accessible and enjoyable for blind and partially sighted people.

AD is a narration describing what is physically happening, say on stage, TV or the big screen.

It can also describe works of art, places of interest or exhibits.

This month they look at some pantos and a Da Da Fest launch event

If you'd like more information on audio described events, go to www.mindseyedescription.co.uk

#RNIBConnect

Image Shows Anne Sitting In Front Of A Microphone

A new device is hoping to make communication easier between music students and their teachers. 

Hywel Davies has been speaking to the team behind the ‘Tap Tap’.

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Time for our first winter warmer, where we discuss ways to enjoy and look after yourself over the colder months

Sometimes it can be tough to choose a meaningful gift, but Amelia and Hubert are here to help with some personalised, inexpensive gift ideas for your close ones. 

Find more gift inspiration in the RNIB Shop - https://shop.rnib.org.uk/gifts

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Robert Kirkwood talks to the RNIB Bookshare Team Leader Rochelle Davis-Pretsell to find out about the service, who can use it and hears about a big change going on behind the scenes.

Celebrate the life of your loved one by supporting a charity in their memory. 

Our David Hogg spoke with RNIB's Hazel Stirling about Remember a Loved One This Christmas and how it can help make the world a better place for blind and partially sighted people.

Find out more here: Remember a loved one - celebrate their life | RNIB | RNIB

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