The Courtship in Honcharivka with a commentary for the blind

For several years already, Lviv has topped the list of Ukrainian cities that are actively working on the implementation of know-how in the field of education and the arts for the disabled. The regional branch of the All-Ukrainian NGO Ukrainian Union of the Disabled (UUD) is launching a service which is in high demand among the visually impaired people: theater performances with a commentary for the blind that will be remotely communicated to visually impaired audience via headphones.

As much as 25 visually impaired theatergoers will “see” The Courtship in Honcharivka, assisted by such a commentary, at the Zankovetska National Academic Ukrainian Drama Theater on November 11. The Courtship will be commented by Lesia Bonkovska, an actress of the Zankovetska Theater. Executive director of the UUD’s Lviv Regional Branch, Candidate of Science in History, visually impaired disabled person of the 1st category Oksana Potymko considers Bonkovska the only actress “who is now able to do it professionally and taking into account all the psychological nuances of people who were born blind.”

It should be noted that the commentary for the blind, also known as the audio description, is the most difficult form of commentary, because it is live, created directly during the performance. To get a visually impaired audience to authentically understand the theatrical performance, to “see” the scenery, have an idea of the characters’ costumes, the expressions in their faces and many other nuances, the commentator should, using for the commentary pauses between the characters’ remarks, concisely describe all the details which a healthy audience would understand well on their own.

Let us recall that globally, commenting for the blind started over 30 years ago. It was introduced to      Ukraine in May 2013, when the first animated film for visually impaired children was created, called The Sunny Round Loaf. It was initiated in Ukraine as a pro bono enterprise by the creative team consisting of Oleksandra Bonkovska, Yurii Saienko, Yevhen Shmanenko, Oksana Potymko and the UUD’s Lviv Regional Branch. This pilot project resulted in a long and fruitful cooperation, with 25 animated and 2 feature-length films having been supplied with a commentary for the blind by now.