Essex's first Caption Unit

The Mercury Theatre in Colchester, has become the first theatre in Essex to purchase a captioning unit. Awarded with a Community Initiatives fund from Essex County Council, the £6000 grant has allowed the theatre to purchase a captioning unit. The unit provides those who are deaf or of hard hearing, with a theatre experience that describes what is happening on stage.

This purchase has made the theatre more accessible to those with hearing difficulties. The unit solely belongs to the Mercury Theatre and provides productions a venue to showcase captioned performances, as well as allowing the Mercury Theatre to continue to provide captions to their own in-house performances. Executive director, Steve Mannix commented on the funding grant,

 “Thanks to Essex County Council, we are now in the fantastic position of being more flexible with our access provision – we can bring the unit into action at short notice, for visiting companies or community use, for our Creative Learning & Talent projects, and more.

The Mercury is committed to ensuring that audiences from Essex and beyond can access great theatre, and this is just one step in our plans to improve our facilities to guarantee access for all.”

For more information on the theatre, visit their website by clicking HERE.