More Than a Theater: IRIS Collaboration Makes Theater Accessible

Breaking Character: Maryfrances Evans, executive director of Iowa Radio Reading Information Service for the Blind and Print Handicapped (IRIS), had a wild idea. IRIS volunteers known as the Sensation Team had been providing audio descriptions for guests at Des Moines Community Playhouse shows since 2012. The wild idea? To broadcast the audio description, out loud, at one performance for the entire audience to experience. John Viars, the Playhouse’s executive director, thought it was a great idea.