Your article (Stage musicals should embrace use of surtitles, says lyricist Tim Rice, 11 February) only touches the tip of the iceberg in terms of the availability of stage productions for the hard of hearing. As a hearing-aid user, I have found that only the RSC at Stratford-upon-Avon offers an exemplary service when it comes to captioned performances (which I have to say has transformed my enjoyment of Shakespeare). Too many theatres offer nothing at all. Well done to Tim Rice for highlighting this issue, but please don’t stop at musicals.
Alan Gent
Cheadle, Cheshire
• Hear, hear to Tim Rice’s suggestion that musicals have surtitles – and not just musicals. I should like to go to more theatre performances, but, being hard of hearing, miss out unless there are surtitles. My experience is that the loop systems that link to hearing aids are poor or don’t work in most theatres and cinemas, and it’s potluck if one’s seat is in a position to receive a signal. I’ve taken to watching streamed plays at home as they have subtitles unavailable when the same play is streamed to a cinema.
Dr Kirstine Oswald
Hillhead, Midlothian
• Tim Rice is right about the use of surtitles in stage musicals. I would go further and suggest that they can be integrated into the production. A good instance of this was Michael Tippett’s opera-cum-musical New Year, composed when he was in his 80s. Its production style attracted a new, young audience who thought the composer amazingly with-it. Among them was the Beatle Paul McCartney, who requested a meeting with the composer, which I arranged; they got on like a house on fire.
Meirion Bowen
London
• Tim Rice is concerned that audiences are often unable to appreciate lyrics in musicals. Are surtitles the answer? I wonder if sound engineering is part of the problem. Where did the idea come from that louder is better for the music? No wonder audiences can’t make out the lyrics when they’re overwhelmed by the music. Tone the music down and we’ll remember the lyrics for ever.
Elaine Yeo
Enfield, London
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