Theatre Accessibility
Wheelchair and Accessible Seating
For patrons who use a wheelchair/scooter or have difficulty navigating stairs, we offer priority seating for all performances—both seated and general admission. Upon your arrival, please let the nearest usher know you would like to make use of this service and they will alert the House Manager. We also offer wheelchair/scooter locations in both the Paul Green and Kenan Theatres with an accompanying companion seat. Our representatives would be happy to assist you in finding a seat location that fits your needs.
Patrons who have difficulty navigating steps should reserve seats in Row A of the Paul Green Theatre. Please call our Box Office at 919.962.7529 if you would like to purchase these tickets over the phone or if none are available online.
Courtesy Wheelchair
PlayMakers has a wheelchair on site and available for patron use. Please call House Management to make a reservation (919.962.7529), or find a PlayMakers staff member when you arrive at the theatre.
Restrooms
Fully-Accessible restrooms are available on the ground floor for patrons of both theatres.
Electronic doors
Button-activated automatic doors are available at both main entrances of the Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art.
Accessible parking
The University office of Parking & Transportation has allocated a very few accessible parking spaces, located on Paul Green Theatre Drive next to the theatre, the surface lot behind the theatre, and in marked spots in the Cobb Parking Deck.
For more details and driving directions, please see our Directions & Parking page.
All-Access Performances
We believe the arts should be accessible for everyone. In partnership with ArtsAccess, PlayMakers offers many services for patrons who are blind, deaf or hearing impaired. We offer audio-description and open caption of our performances on nights we call All Access. We are also able to provide large-print playbills, and tactile tours of our sets with prior notice.
PlayMakers selects one Mainstage performance per production dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access to the arts. PlayMakers achieves this by employing: open captioning for patrons who are hard of hearing or deaf; assistive listening devices for patrons with partial hearing loss; audio description, large print playbills,* and a tactile tour* for patrons with impaired vision; and wheelchair access.
*With advance request
American sign language interpretation (ASL)
ASL sign language interpretation of our performances are offered on nights special nights during every production.
If you require sign language interpretation, please alert our Box Office in advance so that you can be given the best view of our interpreters. Contact our Box Office at 919.962.7529, Tuesday–Friday from Noon–5:00pm; and 90 minutes before each performance. Or email prcboxoffice@unc.edu.
Assistive listening devices (ALDs) & T-Coil Hearing Loop
Both of our theatres are equipped with a FM sound system that amplifies the sound from the stage. We offer Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs), a traditional headset, which is worn over the ears with hearing aids removed, as well as T-Coil Hearing Loops that are compatible with hearing aids. Headsets and loops are available to patrons on a first-come, first-served basis and can be obtained from our Coat Check, located to the left of the Box Office, or by asking any member of our staff.
Open Captioning Performances
Many people with hearing loss or who just want to make sure they don’t miss a word find Open Captioning helpful. Audiences on Broadway and at other performing arts organizations such as The Kennedy Center and Blumenthal Center in Charlotte have enjoyed the benefits of this service. We offer this service at no additional cost to you.
Open Captioning is like closed captioning on your TV – in the theatre. Open Captioning converts the spoken word into text, which is displayed on a caption unit that is viewed by the audience. As the captions roll (delivered live, from a laptop computer, by an experienced captioner), audience members can follow what is said, when it is said, and by whom. Sound effects and off-stage noices are also included. The caption unit is in position before the performance and removed immediately afterwards.
Partial support for this service is provided by the Theatre Development Fund.
For more information please read our Open Captioning FAQs
Open Captioning converts the spoken word into text, which is displayed on a caption unit that is viewed by the audience. As the captions roll (delivered live, from a laptop computer, by an experienced captioner), audience members can follow what is said, when it is said, and by whom. Sound effects and off-stage noises are also included. The caption unit is in position before the performance and removed immediately afterwards.
The text is displayed on a screen, on, above, below, or beside the stage. Open Captioning provides what is called “universal access” because everyone can see it, whether they have hearing loss or not. Audiences without a recognized hearing loss can find Open Captioning helpful, especially when the acoustics are poor, or where English is not their first language, when students are wishing to access the text during a performance, when the performance involves dialect or strong accents, when words are being sung or when actors are speaking or singing off stage.
Open Captioning raises people’s awareness of hearing loss, makes the production more accessible to everyone and fosters inclusiveness. It is a relatively simple and cost-effective way to provide access to live performance for the maximum number of people. With Open Captioning, audience members who are deaf or hard of hearing are not “labeled” as such by being obliged to collect special equipment or sit in specially equipped seats. Hearing and non-hearing people can sit together and enjoy the performance together. The position of the caption unit on stage or in the auditorium is decided between the venue and the Open Captioning provider, taking into account the design of the stage, set and auditorium.
Open Captioning is about developing new audiences, bringing former audiences back to the theater, and providing the most enjoyable experience for current audience members, whether they have a hearing loss or not.
(The above text is excerpted from “A Good Practice Guide to Open Captioning” by Stagetext. www.stagetext.co.uk)
In the Paul Green Theater, a 1 foot high and 4 foot wide screen that displays the text of the play will be mounted so that best viewing will be in the center section. A trained operator sitting in the audience with a laptop will control the screen, displaying the script as it is said by the actors, with the characters names. Sound effects and off-stage noises will also be described. The location of the screen may change with each production depending upon set size, blocking and other artistic considerations. Here are some photos of what Open Captioning looks like at other theaters: http://c2net.org/about/
Everyone! People with partial or complete hearing loss find Open Captioning most useful to help follow the play. Other patrons use Open Captioning to help follow the play when the actors are playing characters with accents or the language of the play is more difficult to follow.
The screen is not in the sightline for most of the theater; it is aimed at the section of the theater that is reserved for patrons wishing to see and use the screen. Other theaters have found that patrons who can see the screen but did not plan to use the Open Captioning screen found it useful, or were easily able to disregard it and watch only the performance. If you can’t see the displayed text on the screen, it looks like a black box and blends into the background.
To purchase, find our special All Access performance online, or you can contact our Box Office at 919.962.7529. Just make sure to let us know you’re interested in Open Captioning.
You don’t need a special ticket, but you do need to tell the Box Office when you order your tickets that you wish to use Open Captioning so that they seat you in a place for good viewing of the screen.
Yes. Call the Box Office at 919.962.7529 and they will help you exchange your ticket.
Yes. Just tell the Box Office that you need a wheelchair accessible seat when you purchase your ticket.
No. By purchasing a ticket in the designated Open Captioning section, you will be able to read the screen without a device or special equipment.
No. Tickets to sit in the Open Captioning section are the same price as all other seats.
No. You can arrive at your regular time for the show. We recommend patrons arrive AT LEAST 30 minutes before the performance to allow time to park, get to the theater and to your seat. Information about parking is available on our Directions & Parking page.
Yes. We offer two different types of Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs). The first is a traditional headset, which is worn over the ears with hearing aids removed. The second is a T-coil neckloop, which is worn around the neck and transmits sound directly through your hearing aid. The neckloop will work with all hearing aids that have activated T-coils. Both headsets and neckloops are available to patrons on a first-come, first-served basis and can be obtained from our Coat Check, located to the left of the Box Office.
Open Captioning will be available for one performance of all Mainstage shows.
PlayMakers wants as many people as possible to have the best possible experience at its performances and events. Open Captioning makes the theater enjoyable for many more people. Let us know what you think of the service by writing to prcboxoffice@unc.edu.
Call the Box Office 919.962.7529 to discuss ticketing for Open Captioning. For other questions, contact Jenna Zottoli, Audience Services Associate, at jzotto@live.unc.edu. Jenna oversees audience accessibility programs at PlayMakers.