There's some writing after the pictures.
This review is a little bit accessible. The images in it have alt text descriptions so that anyone who uses a screen reader can hear about what is in them. For those people - hi! But the image descriptions are quite dry. For anyone who does not use a screen reader, I can tell you that the last image description says: "The same picture of Jesus, but the image has been cut into a love heart shape, and a comically large, curly, pink moustache and beard have been drawn on Jesus' face." It does the job but that's about it.
What if I were to write it in a more literary way - would that be more interesting? Maybe that last image could be:
"A heart of love envelops Jesus as he blesses us with two fingers held up. Maybe we wish to lick those fingers... Or is that just me? (Perhaps it is an intrusive thought, they happen sometimes). Jesus has a candyfloss-pink moustache that curls up high into his colourful halo, and a beard to match. It is whimsical, but sweet. Many people would probably call this image sacrilegious, and maybe even a defilement of a holy icon - to draw a moustache and beard on an image of Jesus is not exactly respectful. But I would like to think that Jesus would be up for it. I reckon he has a cheeky sense of humour."
How was that? Better? Less descriptive? More descriptive? Dunno? Me neither to be honest. Let me know what you think in the comments.
What I have done here is a part of what Mamoru Iriguchi and the rest of the creative team were trying to do with their show, called 'What You See When Your Eyes Are Closed / What You Don’t See When Your Eyes Are Open'. They play with different ways to be accessible in a more creative way than a lot of non-disabled artists usually do, e.g. by having a script the audience can follow along, and an audio description that is more playful than usual. I would be interested to hear how people various access requirements found it, and whether it made for a richer experience than other shows or not. One interesting thing that the team describe here is their offering of touch tours of the different elements of the play for people with visual impairments, where they can feel the textures of the costumes and props, and hear how they would be used on stage. I have heard of touch tours before, but I have never done one before so it was cool to read about how they did it.
The pictures above are a response to the vibe of the show more generally. The show takes inspiration from a guy called James Gibson, who was an important researcher in the field of visual perception (i.e. sight) in the 1950s-70s. In the show, there are a lot of times where one side of the audience sees one thing, and the other side sees something different, or maybe they film some of the audience but not everyone, with a camera that highlights certain bits. Sometimes they tell stories but change the details, and things get bigger and smaller and change shape. The audience is often invited to get up and look at things from different directions, but I found that bit less fun because it is harder to see and you have to crane your neck sometimes. I guess that's the point though, in a show that is all about turning your head in different directions and gaining different perspectives.
To me, more than anything else, the show is a practical and accessible presentation of a tricky academic theory. I felt emotionally invested in the characters and the weird, non-linear stories they told. The costumes are super cool, like a joke in themselves and very cartoonish. The show is quite playful and childish, but definitely made for adults and I really like that as a concept. It is also quite nice that the two actors are a real-life couple and that the fact they are gay is not important to the script. They don't make a lot of their relationship, but it adds a cute dynamic to the writing. I like the way that they tell the story of their relationship.
So yeah, cool concept. I bet university lectures would be much more fun if they were like this show. Also, as a side note, I love seeing that the creative team includes (among others): 2 dramaturgs, 1 access consultant, 2 audio description advisors and 2 people whose job description is 'outside eye'. I'm a big fan of non-normative creative teams with unusual hierarchical structures and lots of advice from external experts.
Star rating:
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