English surtitles have been added to two theatres in Paris in an attempt to attract a wider tourist audience, reports The Stage.
The Théâtre Edouard VII will now feature English language surtitles on its current play, Un Diner D’Adieu, and all future productions. Elsewhere, the Théâtre Mogador will have the live captioning technology on its upcoming French-language version of the musical Cats.
The movement is the idea of Theatre in Paris, a company founded last year that works with theatres to implement English-language captioning technology.
Carl de Poncins, the company’s founder, told The Stage that surtitles would open up Parisian shows to audiences “over the channel” in the UK, as well as those who understand English around the world.
He said: “I would say there’s one place in the world that’s relevant to start this, and that’s Paris, because you have the most vibrant non-English-speaking theatre scene in the world. And at the same time, you have the most important community of English-speaking visitors, because it’s a very visited city.”
De Poncins claimed the West End could also benefit from using foreign-language surtitles.
He said: “Other cities that want to promote or to make their cultural scene accessible should definitely consider it. It’s a great tool. And apart from the musicals, the rest of the London scene is not so accessible to non-English-speakers, and even to good [non-native] English-speakers.”
He added that although fluent French-speakers may not like the idea of surtitles in Paris, it was important to ensure that theatre was accessible to as many as possible.
Bernard Murat, director of the Théâtre Edouard VII, said he hoped the change would make tourists feel more included in the theatrical experience.