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www.thepeninsulaqatar.com COMMUNITYCO | 6 FASHION | 9 ENTERTAINMENT | 12 ‘Darb Al Salama’ road Pink dominates Traffic is watchable safety campaign women’s everyday for its terrific kicks off ethnic wear cast TUESDAY 10 MAY 2016 Email: [email protected] thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar HEAR TO SEE Steps from the bustling action in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage, about 20 audience members are not actually watching the drama unfold. They sit silently, some with their heads bowed, others with their eyes closed. They are all blind or visually impaired. But these theatregoers aren’t missing the action: Through the headphones clamped over their ears, a woman’s voice is explaining everything happening on stage, in detail, in real time. P | 4-5 TUESDAY 10 MAY 2016 | 03 CAMPUS PEC honours students at annual prize distribution ceremony akistan Education Centre (PEC) accredited the outstanding en- deavours of the meritorious Pstudents who came off with fly- ing colours in the annual examination of academic year 2015-16 by conferring medals, and merit certificates on them. The Annual Prize Distribution Cere- mony is a regular feature instituted to acknowledge the marvelous talent and extra-ordinary diligence of the students who scale the ladder of success by dint of sheer commitment and academic ex- cellence. Rashid Nizam (CWA) graced the oc- casion as a chief guest. The Principal of taining presentation by the students spired the audience with their enact- Overall 1st position: Noor Sajid. PEC Nargis Raza was the guest of hon- of Junior Wing. Then the stars of Jun- ment. The scintillating live Qawali by the The recipients of Girls Wing includ- our of the ceremony. Officials Muham- ior Wing, Girls Wing and Boys Wing got students of Boys Wing amused the au- ed: Overall 3rd position: Dania Imshad. mad Humaid Al Mansouri from Jassim feted by the Principal, PEC with certifi- dience. Overall 2nd position: Maira Naeem. Charity, Dr. Abdul Shakoor andLiaqat cates and medals. Later, the overall top three position Overall 1st position: Manahil Saeed. Amin Satti, Member, Board of Governors, The trained choir of Girls’ Wing Mu- holders of their respective Wings were The recipients of Boys Wing includ- parents of the award winners and a sic Club presented a beautiful song of awarded with medals and certificate by ed: Overall 3rd position: Ahmad Khalid. large number of students attended the inspiration, motivation and champion- the Principal and the Chief Guest. Overall 2nd position: Adnan Tass- event. The ceremony was a joint ven- ship. The recipients of Junior Wing includ- war. ture of all the four wings of the school. The students of Girls’ Wing also per- ed: Overall 3rd position holders: Kazim Overall 1st position: Salman Khan. The colourful presentation made by the formed a short skit conveying a mes- Haider and Shanza Fatima The event ended by spotlight- little angels of the KG Wing earned the sage ‘save the planet earth’. In a Mime Overall 2nd position holders: Ma- ing the hard work of all the students loudest applause by the audience. based on the theme “save water”, the heen Zahid ,Ahmad Hasham and Isra whose academic contributions were It was followed by truly an enter- presenters of the Boys’ wing greatly in- Rashid. being acknowledged. MES wins medals in Hindi Olympiad The winners of MES Indian School who won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in various categories in the recently concluded Akhil Bharathiya Hindi Olympiad pose for a group photo. The international linguistic competition was organised by Silver Zone Foundation, New Delhi. 04 | TUESDAY 10 MAY 2016 COVER STORY The Ear’s roughly two dozen volunteer describers serve more than 250 blind or visually impaired people at seven local theatres every year. take special requests, too — a couple of years ago, a describer accompanied a blind fan to a Lady Gaga concert. “It takes a very special person to be a describer, someone who can think fast on their feet,” says Neely Oplin- ger, Ear’s executive director. The peo- ple who sign up — and pass a rigorous audition — tend to stick around; many have been volunteering for 10 years or How volunteers help the blind longer. Tehan has been volunteering since 1992, but she had practice long before that: Her father went blind from diabetes when she was a teen, and she ‘see’ a theatre performance used to describe his favourite televi- sion shows to him. “They are so dedicated, and most of them really know theatre,” Oplinger By Caitlin Gibson han sits behind the crowd in a dark, el- performances with description servic- says of the group’s volunteers. “But it The Washington Post evated sound booth as the fast-paced es provided by the Ear. Describers typ- takes a lot more than knowing theatre.” plot — depicting the efforts of Johnson ically see a performance at least once They also have to know the rules: and civil rights leaders to pass the Civ- or twice before they narrate it live, to When describing a performance, you il Rights Act of 1964 — unspools below. familiarise themselves with the script have to slip all the description into the n the brightly lit theater Tehan speaks crisply into a plas- and note important visual cues. gaps between dialogue. You shouldn’t stage, the first scene of Rob- tic audio mask linked to a large radio The Ear’s roughly two dozen volun- make judgements; instead of conclud- ert Schenkkan’s Tony award- transmitter, explaining what’s happen- teer describers serve more than 250 ing that a character looks “disappoint- Owinning play “All the Way” is ing on the set as vividly and efficiently blind or visually impaired people at ed,” you note simply that he frowns in full swing: President Lyndon B John- as possible. “He waves her away, and seven local theatres every year. They and his shoulders droop. son is pontificating behind a podium. pats her on the rear end,” she says A large desk is wheeled into the spot- when Johnson abruptly dismisses his light. An agitated secretary darts into frazzled secretary. view. “LBJ is picking his nose - really deep,” Steps from the bustling action in she says during one of the show’s com- the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage, ic moments, raising her voice slightly to about 20 audience members are not be heard over the audience’s laughter. actually watching the drama unfold. “Hoover is watching.” They sit silently, some with their heads Tehan points out when Johnson bowed, others with their eyes closed. turns from one character to another They are all blind or visually impaired; mid-sentence: “He’s talking to the tailor they either can’t see the stage at all, or now,” she quickly interjects. She makes it appears as little more than a haze of sure that her listeners don’t miss the light and shadow. joke when Johnson, frustrated by his But these theatergoers aren’t miss- strict diet, swipes a bite of Senator Ri- ing the action: Through the head- chard Russell’s dinner. phones clamped over their ears, a She continues for well over an hour, woman’s voice is explaining everything until the stage lights dim and Act One happening onstage, in detail, in real comes to an end. time. “This is intermission,” she says. “It The voice belongs to Rita Tehan, a will be about 15 minutes.” veteran theater describer for the Met- Then she lowers the mask and ex- ropolitan Washington Ear, a nonprof- hales. it organisation that provides audio Tehan’s preparation for “All the services to the blind and visually im- Way” began weeks before the May 1 paired in the Washington region. Te- matinee, one of more than 50 annual TUESDAY 10 MAY 2016 | 05 COVER STORY describer talks over a character, or the audio sounds muffled. But even with minor hiccups, the effort makes all the difference to a blind member of the audience, says Freddie Peaco, pres- ident of the Ear’s board of directors. “You can hear the voices, but you don’t know the setting of the stage. The audience gives a great gasp, and you don’t know why they’re gasping,” she says. “With the describer, all of that comes to life, and I can’t tell you how meaningful that is.” For a describer, Tehan says, “the moment the curtain rises, you’re on your toes” — and so she is as the sec- ond act of “All the Way” begins. She stands in the dark booth, her eyes trained on the stage. “House lights are fading to black,” she says. After the show, her listeners will praise her performance — “You did a great job, a great job!” one man will gush, grasping her hand — but Tehan won’t be entirely convinced. Even now, halfway through, she’s frustrated by details she couldn’t capture, by how little time she has to speak between the actors’ lines. An artist is never sat- isfied. But the show goes on. Tehan cranes forward to follow the actors, her glasses reflecting the glow of the stage lights. She raises the mask to her face. In the seats just beyond the booth windows, all ears are on her. You must capture any movement dagger, and whether or not the lov- that’s essential to the plot. And — as ers were facing each other,” she once with any live performance — if you told Reuters. make a mistake, you have to keep go- In 1981, Arena Stage approached ing. the Ear about making live perform- These guidelines were created by ances accessible to the blind. Pfan- Margaret Pfanstiehl, who founded the stiehl — then Margaret Rockwell, a di- Metropolitan Washington Ear in 1974 vorcee — recruited longtime Metro to improve the lives of the blind and spokesman and radio pro Cody Pfan- visually impaired.

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