Rebecca A Withey: Review of Self Raising, a Graeae production by Jenny Sealey (BSL)

I’m not going to beat around the bush. If the Self Raising show by Jenny Sealey is showing in your local area, I urge you to go and see it. Regardless of whether you’re deaf, hearing, a sign language user or not.

Trust me.

I recently enjoyed a performance of Self Raising at Derby Theatre, in the intimately designed Studio theatre. The set was simple, with three movable cupboards which opened, closed and lit up. The centre cupboard also transformed into a kitchen sink.

A screen on the background played perfectly timed captions as well as displaying photographs that were relevant to Sealey’s story.

The show began with Sealey walking onto the set alongside interpreter/actress Jude Mahon, and they greeted us all as though we were old friends. Sealey’s energy was captivating from the get go.

Whilst the show was originally intended to be an adaptation of the novel ‘Flour Babies,’ Sealey described how her story had taken on a different direction. This was a story about her real life family. A family with secrets.

Several secrets.

Sealey used mostly voice throughout her monologue, interspersed with BSL where necessary and lots of delightful movement, mannerisms and even dance to paint an incredibly visual picture of the people she told us about and the things she went through.

Her interpreter, or ‘terp’ as she fondly referred to her was superbly directed in the show. Instead of simply translating Sealey’s dialogue, Mahon morphed into characters and was even choreographed to move in a way that enhanced the story.

Sealey’s son, Jonah, provided the voice over for the show – a decision that I felt to be particularly poignant seeing as he was also a large part of Sealey’s story.

And as for the story itself?

I don’t intend to give away any spoilers but all I can say is that it blew me and my husband (who accompanied me) away.

Wow.

With unexpected twists and dramatic turns, Sealey’s story left us hanging on her every word. The secrets made us gasp, shake our heads, laugh and tear up.

The fantastic script which she co wrote with Mike Kenny cleverly captured the humour, sharp wit and drama of each of the characters we learned about with a pace that felt balanced and allowed Sealey to reveal her secrets with the right amount of punch and subtlety.

The one hour performance hour flew by.

Whilst I knew of Sealey previously as a director, this was the first time I had ever seen her perform. Her talent as an actress was particularly clear for me during the times she performed a role shift, swapping from one person another to depict a conversation.

One role shift was especially memorable when Sealey portrayed her younger self with her Mother at the moment she had just become deaf. The use of silence and shouting gave me goosebumps and when Sealey confessed that growing up she felt other people were angry at her for being deaf, it was a moving moment that felt all too relatable.

Now, I must emphasise that Self Raising isn’t your typical ‘sob story’ about being deaf – far from it. The story that we see in Self Raising is one that simply reveals how complicated families can be.

For we all have families whether we are close to them or not and the moral of Sealey’s story seems to ask us to contemplate how we deal with our own secrets.

Do we keep them close to our chest? Or do we choose to tell the world about them, just as Sealey has?

For that reason I feel as though Sealey has been incredibly brave to share such an intimate tale with an audience that is mostly made up of strangers.

If you want to see an accessible show that will keep you riveted and guessing throughout – don’t delay, book your tickets for Self Raising and find out the secrets for yourself!

To find out more about Self Raising and its UK tour see here.