Wheelock Family Theatre
Boston, MA

Main Website: http://www.wheelock.edu/wft

Accessibility Web Page: http://www.wheelock.edu/wft/wftabout.asp#access

Point of Contact

Jody Steiner
Access Coordinator
Email Address: jsteiner@wheelock.edu
Phone: 617-879-2148

Overview

Established in 1981, Wheelock Family Theatre creates intergenerational and multicultural productions that provide a shared experience for the whole family. The theatre celebrates the diverse range of families found in the world today and seeks to unite them in the shared experience of live theatre. The theatre is especially dedicated to those who are historically underserved: people of color, people with disabilities and low-income families.

Devoted to the ideal of complete access, Wheelock rejects the notion that the arts should be available only to audiences of privilege. Their play selection, casting policy, affordable ticket prices, education programs and access provisions for people with disabilities reflect a commitment to inclusive, community-based theatre.

The theatre has a seating capacity of 650. The annual budget is approximately $850,000, and theatre attendance is 27,000 a year with an additional 250-300 children and youth participating in classes and summer programs.

Wheelock's leadership in access and inclusion for audience members and artists, has been recognized by many state and national awards including:

• Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Christopher Reeve Foundation
• Access Achievement Award from the Bay State Council of the Blind
• Service Award from the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
• Coming Up Taller Award for PAH! Deaf Youth Theatre from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

Strategic Planning

In addition to a mission statement that celebrates the diversity of families and specifically mentions people with disabilities, Wheelock prominently displays on its home page a link to information on accessibility services.

Professional Development

Wheelock Family Theatre staff provides basic disability training for ushers, volunteers, theater members. Currently, they conduct annual, campus-wide disability awareness trainings with an additional, more focused workshop for ushers.

Community Engagement

At Wheelock Family Theatre, community and collaboration are key values: community means that artists and audience members with disabilities tell staff—directly—what they need and want; collaboration means working with other arts organizations, human service agencies, schools and the private sector to be effective.

Through Wheelock's 19-member access advisory board, people with disabilities, parents of children with disabilities, reprensentatives from service organizations and consulting interpreters are actively involved in the development and evaluation of programming, outreach and services. Several access advisory board members who have disabilities also serve on the theatre's board of directors. The access advisory board meets three times a year plus communicates frequently by e-mail. In addition to this board, consultants who are deaf and consultants who are blind translate scripts, and coach interpreters and describers, respectively.

Wheelock also engages the community through partnerships such as a multi-year collaboration with Perkins School for the Blind. Students who are deaf and blind can attend one production a year at no cost and participate in workshops designed to enhance their experience at the production.

Wheelock regularly features productions created and/or performed by artists with disabilities, for example,

• My Hands Remember, a play inspired by the life of a Jewish woman who is deaf in Nazi-occupied Europe;
• Hey Sistah, Welcome Home, a multimedia production based on the work of poet Ayisha Knight, who is deaf;
• JazzArtSigns, co-produced with VSA arts of Massachusetts, featuring singer/educator Lisa Thorson, who is a quadriplegic; and
• A Nice Place to Live, an ASL play commissioned by Wheelock, on the history and culture of the deaf community on Martha's Vineyard island in the early nineteenth century.

Programs and Services

Since its first American Sign Language (ASL)-interpreted performance in 1981, Wheelock Family Theater has been accessible to audience members and artists. Services include:

• Interpreters who are deaf work as a team with those who are hearing to interpret a production
• A Wheelock faculty artist who is deaf presents drama workshops to partnership schools and leads a residency at Boston's public school for the deaf
• Audio-described performances include a live pre-show introduction
• Access information on every press release and advertisement

Evaluation

In addition to the evaluation provided through the access advisory board, the theatre also seeks feedback through informal focus groups, casual conversations at performances and formal surveys taken throughout the season. Within the last several years, the Theatre Communication Group funded Wheelock to convene focus groups of potential audience members who are deaf, deaf and blind, physically disabled and blind. Each group, led by a member of the specific community, evaluated Wheelock's access services and recommended strategies to help make needed improvements.

Tips for Success

• Ensure that everyone in your organization is committed to access and inclusion.
• Don't be discouraged with small audiences; be consistent and your numbers will increase.
• Don't expect to recoup your investment in access services.
• Encourage your board members and funders to attend performances that are interpreted or productions that focus on disability issues.
• Ensure that your Web site is accessible.
• Don't be discouraged by mistakes and celebrate your accomplishments.
• Market the names of your interpreters because many audience members follow their favorite interpreters.