Accessible Seating

The Arden aims to seat all our patrons in locations that will make their theatre experience comfortable and enjoyable. We offer seating accommodations to patrons who use wheelchairs or have other accessibility requests, such as the need for an aisle seat, or to sit close due to concern with stairs or hearing/vision loss. Patrons who use a wheelchair can transfer to a theatre seat, or may remain in their chair and request for a seat to be removed.

You may choose your own seat when purchasing online, or can request these accommodations by calling the box office. If a performance is ever General Admission seating, please call the box office to reserve an accessible seat for that performance.

To best meet your seating needs, we encourage you to plan your Arden visit early. Please call the Box Office at 215.922.1122 or email at boxofficer@ardentheatre.org so that we can assist you with purchasing wheelchair accessible seating.

   Personal Care Assistants

Paid Personal Care Assistants (PCAs), Home Health Aides (HHAs), Nursing Assistants, and other paid disability services providers who accompany patrons with needs to our theater are welcome to attend our performances with a complimentary ticket. Patrons who plan to attend a performance with a paid professional assistant should call our Box Office at 215.922.1122 to purchase tickets and inquire about a complimentary ticket for their assistant.

   Service Dogs

The Arden welcomes patrons with Service Dogs (and Service Dogs in Training) to attend our performances. In accordance with Pennsylvania law and the Americans with Disabilities Act, acceptable Service Dogs perform specific services or tasks to assist a person with a disability. Emotional support and comfort animals are not always qualified as Service Animals under the ADA and thus may not be permitted. Service Animals are required to be housebroken, kept on a leash at all times within the facility, and may be subject to removal in the event of disruption to the performance.

(Know your rights! In accordance with the ADA, Arden Theatre staff are only entitled to ask the handler of a Service Dog if the dog is required because of a disability, and what tasks the dog has been trained to perform. No further questions may be asked nor should be answered.) 

   Assistive Listening Devices

The Arden offers Assistive Listening Devices (ALD’s) for every performance in all three of our theatre spaces. Our ALD devices were recently replaced in the fall of 2019, thanks to a generous grant from the McLean Contributionship.

ALD’s amplify the sound coming from onstage directly to your ears and eliminates unwanted ambient noise. Any patron can use this service within each theatre with a device and headphones provided by Arden staff. Patrons with hearing aids that have a t-coil setting are also able to borrow an ALD along with a personal neck loop that will connect the device to your hearing aids once the t-coil setting is enabled.

Should you wish to borrow an ALD during your visit to the Arden, check in with the Box Office staff or House Manager to request one. Please note that you will need to hand in a Photo ID to borrow a device that will be returned to you after the performance. Contact the Box Office, too, in advance of your performance if you plan to borrow an ALD so that they can have a unit at the ready for you to pick up.

   Open Captioning (OC)

Open captioning is a text display of all of the words and sounds heard during a production. Open Captioning differs from the “Closed Captioning” in that it is permanently visible to all patrons during the performance, rather than being a form of captioning you can turn on or off. To reserve tickets for a Captioned performance, please call the box office at 215.922.1122 or email boxofficer@ardentheatre.org to ensure that your seating location will provide a suitable view of the captioning screen.

   Audio Description (AD)

Audio description for patrons with vision loss includes live verbal commentary, providing information on the essential visual elements of a production as it unfolds, such as the style and design of a production, facial expressions, and visual jokes. The description is delivered in between the dialogue of a performance and is only picked up by the audience member wearing a specific headset provided by the theatre. Check in with the Box Office when you arrive for an Audio Described performance to borrow an Assistive Listening Device (ALD) tuned to receive the describer’s feed. Please note that you will need to hand in a Photo ID to borrow a device that will be returned to you after the performance.

   American Sign Language (ASL) Shadow Interpretation

Shadow Interpreting using American Sign Language (ASL INT) offers live ASL by interpreters who “shadow” the actors, following their movement onstage while interpreting the dialogue.  This allows patrons who are Deaf or hard of hearing the ability to watch the actors and interpreters simultaneously.

Arden Theatre Company is proud to offer ASL Shadow Signing for our Children’s Theatre productions in partnership with Hands UP Productions.