sight loss

Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’

/ thevicritic / 1 Comment

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first theatre review of the year 2024! It’s great to see another year of theatre performances starting. To kick things off, I recently watched ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester.

I was excited to see this play as it is based on a popular book with a worldwide reputation. The plot revolves around two men, one of whom lives a double life under a different identity. This leads to a complicated love triangle between the characters.

I first need to say that the cast in this show was amazing and had a real passion for the material. It was also really clear from the show that the direction and style of the show wanted to stay very true to the original text, which I preferred. 

The use of simple settings and staging, along with effective contrast, helped to make it very clear to distinguish between each character. They all had a unique sense of fashion and style that added to their individuality. The great use of colour was visually pleasing and added to the overall experience. Each character had a distinct way of speaking, making it easy to understand who was talking to whom and who was on stage at any given time.

The image depicts a whimsical, theatrical scene. There is a woman standing on the left, dressed in a floral dress with her hair up, looking upwards. She is next to a small round table with a pink cloth and two red chairs. In the center, there is a large, ornate fireplace with a pile of red and white roses spilling out from it. Above the fireplace hangs a large, round, dark mirror with a pink frame. On the right, a man in a pink suit with a blue bow tie leans on a high counter, looking towards the woman. The backdrop is a lush wall of greenery and flowers, and there are three birds suspended in the air as if in mid-flight. The floor has a checkered pattern in light blue and white.

The lighting used in the show was simple yet effective in illuminating the entire performance. I appreciated this as there was not a single moment where I had difficulty seeing what was happening on stage. The only instances of darkness were at the beginning and end of each act, which did not cause any significant problems.

I have always struggled with the different types of language used in some plays for example Shakespeare’s plays, and there was a few elements in this play too. However, the comedy throughout the whole show fully made up for this. 

The image shows a man standing in a room with a playful and confident expression. He is holding a red book in his left hand and resting his right hand on the back of a white, ornate sofa. He is dressed in a colorful outfit: a teal robe with a floral pattern, a maroon sweater, pink pants, and a brown belt. Behind him is a bookshelf filled with neatly arranged books in various bright colors. The room has a light blue wall and a grayish-blue floor.

The story itself I had never done at school so was not aware of this play or book before seeing this show. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this production from start to finish. The story was engaging and compelling, and the cast did nothing but add to this. It had everything you could want. A love triangle, death, comedy, betrayal, secrets. It has it all. It was great to see a predominantly female cast apart from the two male leads which I don’t see very often it was great to see and something which should happen more.

I think in terms of accessibility then, if you have some useful version. You will love the great use of lighting, scenery and colour. Along with amazing costumes. If you would like an up-close look at this, then I would recommend sitting in the centre of row D which is pictured below. If you limited to no vision. You will still get a great deal out of this show. There are of course some visual elements you will miss but there is an audio-described performance available along with a Touch Tour, to get even more up close and personal with the cast and set of this outstanding show. 

The image shows a stage set designed to look like an elegant room. The room has a pastel color scheme with light blue and white checkered flooring. The walls are adorned with white paneling and decorative moldings, and the backdrop features a painted sky with fluffy clouds. On the left side of the stage, there is a white bookshelf filled with colorful books. In the center of the room, there is a classic white sofa with ornate detailing. To the right, there is a small round table covered with a pink cloth, upon which rests a lamp with a fringed shade, and a single chair that matches the sofa's design. Above the table, on the wall, is an oval-shaped mirror with a pink frame. There are two wall sconces emitting a warm light on either side of the mirror. The overall atmosphere of the set is whimsical and charming, reminiscent of a fairytale interior.

You really would not go far wrong in getting a ticket for this outstanding show. This has been put together brilliantly in the only way The Mercury Theatre can. If it can go on tour I really think it should. Let the rest of the country get to see how good this first-class show is! 

‘The Importance Of Earnest’ is running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester from 7th – 16th March 2024. Go and get your tickets by clicking the link here!

Until Next Time,

The VI Critic  

The image is a promotional poster for a play. It features a person dressed in a pink suit with a large pink rose for a head. The person is holding a teacup close to where their mouth would be. The background is olive green with ornate gold designs on the corners and sides. The title "THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST" is prominently displayed in large white letters, with "by OSCAR WILDE" and "directed by RYAN McBRIDE" in smaller text below.

A Trailer Of The Show In Animation:

A Interview With Director Ryan McBryde:

Why ‘Alt Text’ Is Awesome! – #DescribeThePic

/ thevicritic / 5 Comments

Hi all,

Today we all take looking at photos on websites and social media is something we take for granted. But for people who are Blind or Low Vision can be really difficult if someone doesn’t take the time to describe that photos.

Screen Readers

But how exactly do Blind or Low Vision people look at these photos? Well people with Low Vision might choose to use Zoom features to be able to look at a photo or read some text, but it’s a little different for people you have no vision at all. People with no vision use something called a ‘Screen Reader’. A ‘Screen Reader’ is a piece of software, that can either be built into a device like all Apple iOS or Mac products, or in some cases android too. This little of software reads all things on the screen to a Blind person, whether that be text messages, the weather, or even ebooks. But it will always read ‘Alt Text’ on websites to describe photos. 

Alt Text

‘Alt Text’ is a simple piece of code on a website that allows people to add descriptions to photos which Screen Readers can read if the person has ‘Voice Over’ on, but it embedded into the photos, so it is hidden by sight users to your website (social media alt text will be covered below). Websites like ‘Wordpress’ make it very easy to allow owners of a website to add descriptions to photos. For more information on adding alt text to your wordpress website you can click here!

Here are two examples, the first image doesn’t have Alt Text, but the image underneath does:

Photo shows a photo of me and Guide Dog Blossom sitting in a house garden posing for a photo. Blossom is wear her Guide Dog harness.

Social Media

So adding ‘Alt Text to photos to tweets on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook is so, so easy, and even more important now more and more people are now using social media even more! So below I am going to give you some instructions on how to add Alt Text for each of these websites:

Twitter

So adding Alt Text to your photos along with your tweets is as follows:

  1. Firstly, click or tap on the compose tweet button, type out your tweet, then at the bottom, tap or click on the add photos button.
  2. Once you have selected the image, at the bottom right of the thumbnail of the image, there is an alt text button, once tap or clicked another window will appear where you can typed on the description of the photos. 
  3. Once you have typed on the description, then just tap or click then done button, then just tap or click the tweet button.

Instagram

Adding descriptions to your instagram photos goes like this:

  1. Tap on the ‘add photo’ cross at the top right of the app, the dice on the photo.
  2. Once you have added a filter if you chose to, then once the ‘New Post’ window appears click or tap the ‘advanced settings’ option that the very bottom of all the options on the page.
  3. Once there, scroll all the way down the ‘accessibility’ section, under that is the ‘write alt text’ button, tap on that. once there it gives you a huge section for you to be as descriptive as you like! The more descriptive the better!

Facebook

Unfortunately, Facebook does not have a way for you to embed the description into the photo. So the only way around this is to add a photo description underneath your post along with the photo, with the words ‘photo description’ along with the description of the photo.

Adding Alt Text, to photos to some might be an extra thing you have to when you ‘just want to post an image to your friends’. But just taking this little extra step before pressing share. Means that everyone can enjoy your photos including people with vision loss!

I have had the massive honour and privilege, on not doing this post alone! This post has been part of a campaign called #DescribeThePic along with the brilliant Siobhan Meade creator of the YouTube channel ‘Blind Girl Vlogs’ an channel of which you can find here or her twitter here. But also the wonderful Emily Davison who creates fashion and all things Visually Impaired blog posts and videos on her website, YouTube channel, and twitter whom I have follow for a while and it has been a joy to work with!

Thank you Siobhan and Emily for having me! I’ve enjoyed it so much!

I know this is complexly different to what normally post about, but this a topic which is near and dear to me, so I was something that when asked I really wanted to get involved with. So I hope you have got something out of this, and hopefully next time you post an image to social media or website.

If you decided to post a photo in the near future, or decide to make video or blog post also on this same subject, then please do so. I’d would love to hear what you guys think about this! But then you do, please use the hashtag #DescribeThePic on social media, that way people can also see your creations and your opinions too!

Due to world pandemic as many have seen, the theatre industry is none existent! So I am not sure when my next post is going to be, as there will be no Pantomime post this year. But I want to take this time to wish all a Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!!

Until Next Time!

The VI Critic