WHAT'S THAT YOU SAID ?

If you manage to read this, please read it with a smile. (By the way, Celia thinks I'm deaf and should wear a hearing aid at all times)

I heard today that a loss of hearing is a possible symptom of the approach of dementia. At least that is what I thought I heard. Not hearing, or rather the loss of the ability to hear, can lead gradually to a shrinking of the brain and hence the onset of Alzheimer’s. I have recently been aware that my hearing is not as good as it once was. This is in part due to treatment I received a couple of years ago, which involved chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The successful treatment of the disease has left me with a degree of tinnitus and a diminution of hearing, particularly in the right ear. I do not believe it is as bad as all that; however, it has left me wondering at times, (generally in crowded situations, such as restaurants, pubs and other such places) what people are saying. I am not deaf and I believe I do understand what is being said so long as the speech I am listening to is clear and distinct and unencumbered from extraneous background or surrounding noise. Thus many people round a dinner table, all speaking at more of less the same time, makes it sometimes difficult for me to understand what is being said, even if spoken directly at me. The distance between the speaker and myself is also a factor. The resulting incomprehension can make one appear distant and uninterested, perhaps even seem a bit slow and dim. Thus public places can be difficult to negotiate. This condition coupled with my stubborn denial of it, can make one seem brusque or gruff as well as slow and dim. Nonetheless, I believe my critical faculties are still intact, if sometimes misguided, or simply prejudicial and irrational.

I have been made more particularly aware of this condition because of recent visits to the theatre and the cinema. Both these are public places, with lots of people speaking at the same time. The noise level tends to increase with the numbers of people talking. Volume gets louder as people seek to be heard above the general increase in din. As soon as the show starts the noise subsides and one is left with oneself in the dark and the spectacle on stage or screen. At the cinema, what with state of the art sound systems, there is no difficulty hearing what speech there is to hear. Indeed it is sometimes too loud. One adjusts to the sound levels, but the sound is sufficiently loud to drown out the audience coughs and eating of popcorn and sweets and the drinking of thirst quenching soda pops. The theatre is another story entirely.

Last Thursday I went to see a new play at the Southwark Playhouse. It is not a huge space and the seating was arranged in tiers facing the performance area. It was very neat and tidy allowing everyone a good view or sight line, and hence unencumbered hearing. I was however seated on the side at the back and behind me was the continuous drone of the air conditioner. This did not make for easy hearing, and on occasion when actors were speaking with their backs towards my position in the audience, unless they were very clear and distinct, I could not make out what they were saying. After the interval a friend graciously changed seats with me and I was in a more central position to the performance area. The noise from the air conditioning was reduced as well. What is most disconcerting in these situations is that when the fully hearing audience reacts with joint laughter or shock, one feels left out. One has missed the joke or the calamity and one feels less involved. This can detract from one’s enjoyment of the play and makes one critical of certain aspects of the piece out of ignorance and misunderstanding, just from a lack of comprehension. Dessert, is, in my view, most definitely worth hearing and seeing. I am a fan of the Cotton oeuvres.

Lack of comprehension on the other hand, is not always the fault of the physical aspects of the venue. On Monday evening we went to the Hamlet at the Harold Pinter Theatre. It is a new and interesting production. I was not entirely overwhelmed and some directorial decisions were, in my view, misguided and simply wrong. The acting was on the whole wonderful, however, there were moments when certain characters gabbled. I am not alone in thinking this. I did read a review in which the reviewer commented on some dialogue being indistinct. Indeed the only actors in the play who were completely distinct and audible at all times were the Player King & Ghost (David Rintoul) and the Player Queen (Mary Cruickshank). I am afraid some of the acting was more appropriate to the screen than the theatre. The production did involve some screen performances which was of course clear and distinct because of the very modern sound system.

Some of the joint audience reaction made me realize that I did miss out on some dialogue because of hearing loss, but not all of my difficulties were down to that alone. I believe I know the play reasonably well and those monologues of note included, on occasions, some prattle or rant. It was gabble. Hamlet’s directions to the players, “Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines” was indeed very well delivered, but I wish the actors, including Hamlet himself, had taken up his admonitions throughout.

What it comes down to, if you come over for supper, please be patient with the hearing impaired cook.