Hi everyone, back again with another review! This month is very much a month of theatre so there’s at least one more to come!

If you haven’t already read my recent review ‘The Importance Of Earnest’ then I will leave a link for you here.

Moving on to the review, I recently had the opportunity to watch ‘Self-Raising’, which starred Jenny Sealey. I must say that this is one of the best plays I’ve seen in terms of accessibility, and that’s saying something considering the amount of theatre reviews I’ve done over time.

The story is a summary of Jenny’s life and family. She talks about the history of her family and her childhood. The story has some happy and sad moments and takes you on a full journey and rollercoaster.

The accessibility measures provided at the performance were the best I’ve ever seen. They had everything covered, including live audio descriptions, personal and live descriptions, live captioning, sign language interpretation, and photo descriptions through audio played through speakers for the entire audience. Additionally, a free large print booklet was provided, which detailed different elements of the show and included content warnings.

Before the show fully started both Jenny and her interpreter described themselves in full! What they were wearing, and how they looked. They then went on to describe the very simple set. Jenny then goes on to tell her story. To explain her story, she shows the audience different family pictures. After each picture is shown, the picture is shown on the screen in a much bigger format and then described to the whole audience in great detail. Even though I don’t often use Audio Description, as I have some useful vision I found this extremely useful which was a lovely surprise. 

The story was very enjoyable, and at times I could not help but feel for Jenny when she would describe situations that she found herself in. Having everything described only added to the story. 

I must say that this show is a must-see! Jenny and her team have taken into consideration all forms of disability and have made sure to accommodate as many disabilities as possible. I was highly impressed with the amount of accessibility that was available to everyone. Additionally, there was a table outside after the show that had copies of all the photos, some props, and Jenny’s costume used in the performance. They couldn’t have done anything more to make this show accessible to everyone!

You really must go and see this show! It is running at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester from Friday 8th – Saturday 9th March, but is on a national tour of the UK! Trust me when I say, get tickets for this show! Tickets for The Mercury Theatre can be found by clicking here. If you would like more information on the national tour, however, then you find out information by clicking the link here!

Be sure not to miss out!

Until Next Time

The VI Critic