It is possible that optometric contact lenses can be used to temporarily blind the wearer?

Question

I am playing a blind character and want something other than dark sunglasses. I do not want to cause damage to my eyes.

Answer 1

Yes, if you can get someone to make opaque contact lenses that fit you, then you would be able to see little or nothing.  The problem I see with them is that as an actor (and I played Pozzo in Waiting for Godot who is blind in second act) you have got to hit marks and avoid obstacles in a way different from a blind person (and my wife is a blind person, so I know the details of this exactly)  

  Many of the clues a blind person uses to maneuver are missing on the stage or may be present one night and missing the next if audience people are more noisy (like raincoats one night and not the next)  

  When I was doing Pozzo, I had to scramble, supposedly out of control, right to the edge of the stage and almost fall off, using a set piece to prevent my falling.  I had to see at one point at least to aim to that "rock" to catch it and use it to help my balancing act.  There were people in a front row 6' from the stage and thus 3' from my head as I dangled (one woman got a laugh one night for starting to reach out to help, then pulling back, then reaching.)

  When you leave the visible stage, you have to maneuver past other actors, stage manager and hands, props, etc. and you can't whip out contacts the way you can sunglasses.  Are you going to have someone standing there to sighted guide you?  

  Blind people commonly wear sunglasses because their eyes look ugly.

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid...

  Depending on the source of the blindness, the eyes may be sunken because the eyeballs shrunk and were not replaced with prostheses.

  Some blind people who are not totals find the bright light of daylight to be quite distracting when they can make out no detail and thus keep their eyes closed or wear heavy sunglass or opaques

  As an actor you have to follow your choices, but I would suggest visting the Light House for the Blind in the nearest city or attending a meeting of a local chapter of the National Federation of the Blind or the American Council of the Blind [note that both are "of the" not "for the"]

Answer 2

Yes. there are custom contact lenses with occluders in them to keep light out. There are people that are legally blind that do percieve light. This is ok for most people, but some only have light perception in one eye. If they are comletely blind in one eye or have sight in one eye, having the light perception only in the other eye can make you nuts.  So, sometimes they will use an accluder lense to block the light in that one eye. I have never seen it used in both eyes, and never for your purpose. You could call your eye doctor and tell them what it is that you are doing and what you want and see what they would say and what their ideas are.  IT is dangerous to be a sighted person and all of a sudden have your eyes occluded without having some training, though, it is easy to get hurt. So, be careful!