Jenny Sealey puts her artistic director of Graeae hat aside for this run of her show, Self-Raising.
Sealey is deaf and has been since a childhood accident. Her professional work has been all about making theatre inclusive and accessible, and this show is no exception, with a BSL interpreter, captions, and audio description.
This, though, is her personal story of secrets. At first, talking about the book Flour Babies and handing bags of flour with names to members of the audience, it is unclear where we are going, but slowly, Self-Raising makes its mark.
Young Jenny is the eldest of four sisters. The whole family can hear and make no accommodations for her disability. It’s sobering to realise that even hospitals expected a deaf child to be ‘normal’.
Clever use of sound gives an idea of what a crowd, or even a family gathering, sounds like if you are deaf. But Sealey refuses to let this define her, even though one of the secrets she keeps is directly related to it.
With the three-part set standing as both a kitchen and a darkroom, Self-Raising is about images (both physical pictures and how we are seen by others) and identities.
Watching a diverse audience signing to each other pre-show and signalling appreciation with wiggling hands in lieu of applause was great – more shows should make an effort to celebrate this inclusion.
Sealey and her ‘terp’ (sign language interpreter) Jeni Draper are clearly close enough friends to support each other, and the storytelling laces humour through enough of the show to face the dark bits about shame, deceit and abuse.
Co-written with Mike Kenny and directed by Lee Lyford, Self-Raising showcases Sealey as a strong force with a likeable stage presence. She’s no victim, and her disability does not define her. Nor should it.
This is a valuable and engrossing show that may feel narrow in scope on the surface, but which could and should generate conversations from which we all could benefit.
Self-Raising continues at the Soho Theatre until 17 Feb, and then continues on tour across the UK with tickets here.
***.5
Image credit: Tiu Makkonen