Growing up Deaf in a family with a secret concealed from both her and her siblings, shaped Jenny Sealey’s childhood. Discovering the truth a few years ago, she was sent into a spin as she realised that her life could have been so very different. Now, the award-winning Artistic Director of disabled-led theatre company Graeae is ready to share her experience with an audience in Self-Raising, a blisteringly honest, reflective, and often laugh-out-loud funny one-woman show.
Having spent a lifetime championing stories by Deaf and disabled artists, Jenny takes to the stage to tell her own. Self-Raising is presented by Graeae in association with Soho Theatre and Theatr Iolo, and was developed with The Incubator at The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath.
Jenny says – “It is a huge privilege to perform on stage after years of being the director. I am nervous and excited. Thank you to Graeae, Theatr Iolo and Soho Theatre for this opportunity to take the audience on a journey through my story, which is one many can relate to”
Jenny Sealey has been the Artistic Director of Graeae since 1997. She has pioneered a new theatrical language developing the ‘Aesthetics of Access’ as an artistic expression; the creative integration of sign language, captioning and audio description in performance. Her cedits for Graeae include: The Paradis Files an opera; Reasons To Be Cheerful a musical; Sarah Kane’s Blasted; Kaite O’Reilly’s peeling, The House of Bernarda Alba,Blood Wedding and The Threepenny Opera. Plays for young people include Diary of an Action Man and Whiter than Snow, both by Mike Kenny. Outdoor productions include Against the Tide, The Iron Man, The Garden, The Limbless Knight – A Tale of Rights Reignited and for the WW1 Centenary This Is Not For You with disabled veterans.
Jenny co-directed the London 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony alongside Bradley Hemmings (GDIF). In 2022 Jenny was made an OBE. She has been awarded the Liberty Human Rights Arts Award and is an honorary Doctor of Drama at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Middlesex University and a Fellow of the Central School of Speech and Drama and Rose Bruford College.
Mike Kenny was included in the Independent on Sunday’s list of Top Ten Living UK Playwrights. His plays are performed regularly throughout the UK and all over the world. He was the first recipient of The Arts Council of England Children’s Award. His adaptation of The Railway Children won the 2011 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. In 2012 he created a new version of The York Mysteries, and has since worked on the large scale, site sensitive community plays, Blood and Chocolate and In Fog and Falling Snow, and This is Not For You, for Graeae and 14-18-NOW. Most recently, his adaptation of C J Sansom’s Sovereign will be performed by a cast of over 100. He first worked with Jenny Sealey at Red Ladder Theatre in 1988. Work for Graeae includes The Last Freak Show, A Diary of an Action Man, Whiter than Snow’, and this year’s dramatisation for BBC Radio 4 The Chatterleys.
For over 40 years, GRAEAE has cultivated and championed the best in Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent talent, locally, nationally and internationally.
Graeae is passionate about igniting artistic curiosity, championing accessibility and providing a platform for new generations of artists through the creation of trail-blazing theatre. It is also a human rights company, founded on the need to tackle social injustice, discrimination and exclusion.
Graeae’s work has been seen in stadiums, theatres, schools, at festivals and streamed online. Recent productions include UK Theatre Award winner ‘The Paradis Files’, ‘Kerbs’, Olivier Award nominated ‘10 Nights’, and two seasons of the digital new work programme ‘Crips without Constraints’. Other work includes the hit Ian Dury musical ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ and outdoor spectacles ‘The Iron Man’ and ‘This Is Not For You’. In addition to productions, Graeae also runs an extensive programme of training, learning, and creative professional development programmes. Since 1997, Graeae has been run by Jenny Sealey OBE, who also co-directed the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony. Artistic Director and Joint CEO: Jenny Sealey OBE. Executive Director and Joint CEO: Kevin Walsh. www.graeae.org
