We’re thrilled to see our partners at Access Virginia featured in The Triangle for their incredible work making theater and cultural experiences accessible to people impacted by hearing and vision loss. Read the article below.
Captions illuminate a screen during a performance of The Three Musketeers at Wells Theatre. (Photo courtesy of Access Virginia)
A local nonprofit is making it possible for more people to experience the joy of theater.
Access Virginia has been helping people with hearing and vision loss to fully experience live performances and other cultural spaces for over a decade.
The Newport News-based organization provides services at eight theaters across Hampton Roads: The Williamsburg Players in Williamsburg; the Ferguson Center for the Arts and Downing-Gross in Newport News; Virginia Beach Theater and Zeiders American Dream Theater in Virginia Beach; and Little Theatre of Norfolk, Chrysler Hall and Wells Theatre in Norfolk.
While their mission centers on theater, the organization also runs summer camps for visually impaired children, provides audio-described museum tours and hosts occasional educational workshops.
This past July, Access Virginia welcomed a new Board of Directors for the 2025-2027 term, with Tiffany Boyle serving as president and Molly Newton as vice president.
Executive Director Lois Boyle, Tiffany’s mother, founded Access Virginia in 2014 after several years of work as a court reporter.
Her journey started in 2010 after she had worked closely for two years with a profoundly hard-of-hearing client. The woman, a former music teacher and piano studio owner, had left behind almost all of her previous way of life due to hearing loss she sustained at around age 30.
“She had graduated with a degree in music and taught in the public schools and the private schools, and had a piano studio,” Boyle told The Triangle. “And she lost it all at about age thirty, when she became profoundly hard of hearing.”
One day, Boyle’s client confided to her that she had one wish – to see a Broadway show again.
At the time, however, no local theaters offered captioning. It took a collaborative effort between the two women to persuade Chrysler Hall in Norfolk to allow Boyle to provide live captions using a stenograph laptop during a performance of The Lion King.
Boyle typed the actors’ dialogue on a stenotype machine. A laptop instantly translated it into text that her client, sitting beside her, followed while watching the show.
“She’s reading and she’s looking at the stage,” Boyle said. “The captions are appearing in-sync with the performance on stage. So, she is panning back and forth.”
With a little effort, the client got to experience a Broadway performance again. In that moment, Boyle also realized her act of kindness meant something much more.
Lois Boyle uses a stenotype machine and laptop to provide captions for a local theater performance. (Photo courtesy of Access Virginia)
“She was very emotional at the end,” Boyle said. “I realized at that point that though I was doing something nice for her to make her wish come true, it was a quality of life she had lost that she regained for a few hours.”
The experience prompted Boyle to begin researching ways to provide captioning for entire theater audiences. More importantly, she would need to figure out how to obtain large enough captioning equipment.
The nearest venue with the proper equipment was the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The renowned performing arts center was glad to teach Boyle the ropes if she came up for a visit, but their equipment would stay there.
To meet the need for more captioned performances locally, in 2011, Boyle arranged for a theater captioning team from Upstate New York to spend the year in Hampton Roads and offer their services.
After the group left, local theaters began asking Boyle to continue captioning regularly.
“That’s when the theater contacted me and said, ‘Would you do this on a regular basis?’” Boyle said. “Because they had great feedback and the audience actually appreciated [and] benefitted from it. The hearing as well as the non-hearing.”
Boyle was encouraged to start an organization to fund this undertaking through community support, and in 2012, she applied for a nonprofit title. Two years later, Access Virginia became tax-exempt–marking its official beginning.
Since then, patrons like Williamsburg hearing loss advocate Kathi Mestayer have had the opportunity to use the organization’s services and enjoy an experience that would have been out of the question a few years prior.
For Mestayer, who has been navigating her own hearing loss for over 20 years, “having access to live performances is a relatively new thing.” She was surprised by how quickly she adjusted to watching performances while following the text.
“I make sure I get a seat at the theater near the captions, so I can read and follow the action,” Mestayer told The Triangle. “It was surprising to me, at first, that it wasn’t that effortful; I got used to paying attention to both pretty quickly.”
In 2015, Access Virginia also began offering audio description services for patrons with vision loss.
Audience members can request a small receiver with ear buds at least two weeks before the performance or use a compatible personal system.
During the pre-show and performance, trained describers narrate “the stage, the props, who’s on stage, who’s speaking, costumes and change in the scenery,” in their ears.
Additionally, the organization has expanded to provide museum tours with audio description. Guides describe the artwork in detail and, when possible, allow visitors to touch certain pieces.
During the summer, Access Virginia and the Virginia Stage Coach company in Norfolk run a “Dramatically Abled” summer camp program for children with visual impairments.
“They’re immersed in the theater,” Boyle said. “They learn all about it, and they get to attend a show with accommodations, and then a script is written for them, and they perform at the last workshop.”
Access Virginia also operates the Veteran’s Project, which offers free theater tickets to veterans with hearing or vision loss.
The organization’s theater season runs from August to June. The first show of the 2025-2026 season will be “Ride the Cyclone,” a musical featuring open captions, presented at the Little Theater of Norfolk at 8 p.m. on August 16th.
Access Virginia will provide captions for several upcoming performances at the Williamsburg Players, including “Cabaret’ on Sept. 20, “Rehearsal for Murder” on Nov. 15 and “A Christmas Carol” on Dec. 20.
For performance dates and information on services available at each show, view their Show Listings.
In October, the organization will host its next audio-described tour at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center.
Donations are what makes Access Virginia’s work possible, according to Boyle. The group reports that the cost of captioning a single Broadway performance is around $1,500.
Volunteers are needed, too, especially those with skills in graphic design, social media, fundraising or marketing. People with sensory disabilities are encouraged to serve on the organization’s committees.
Since 2014, Access Virginia has been a pillar in the Hamptons Road sensory disability community. For many, their impact is life changing.
“It’s a [game]-changer for people like me, who couldn’t follow the play without the captions,” Mestayer said.
For more information on Access Virginia, upcoming events or how to get involved or donate, visit accessvirginia.info. Updates are also regularly posted to the organization’s Facebook page.
Article Source: The Triangle