Self - Raising by Mike Kenny & Jenny Sealey. Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1 to 17 February 2024.

4****: William Russell.

“An indomitable woman talks about her life, family secrets and lies – and being deaf.”

Jenny Sealey is deaf. She is also the artistic director of Graeae the company of disabled, deaf and neurodivergent artists. This show, first seen on the fringe at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, is about her early life as a deaf person and marks her first stage performance after some 20 years as most of her work has been as a director. She gives a tremendous performance aided by an interpreter, who signs for the audience, as well as by a screen behind her on which images, short action sequences, comments by her son Jonah and the script of this more than a monologue are projected. The meaning of title of the show is revealed after she has distributed bags of self-raising flour, each of which has a name, among the audience. They are all members of Jenny’s family and her secret is that she was not, as she believed for years, the daughter of her mother’s husband. Her mother had had an affair with another man, who also had a family, so it all got quite complicated and her mother refused to admit to what had happened to her other children. In the end it all got sorted out and she acquired a vast family but along the way there were problems, including the distinguished neurologist, someone she is told she cannot name, who took the teenage and very pretty Jenny to stay in his home so he could “cure” her deafness. She says as a deaf person you do not hear when someone comes into your room in the dark. Eventually she managed to contact her parents and was taken away but it is a chilling tale. The rest, however, of this story of secrets discovered and now revealed is about someone indomitable who is able to laugh at the vagaries of life, understand how her mother felt, accept that the sailor father was probably gay judging by the family photographs she found – the kisses on the back of one with the message BOTLP* added give it away - and welcome the extended family she discovered. Her contact with the audience is also remarkable. After its stint at the Soho Theatre – two shows a day – Self-Raising will go on a nine date national tour.

• Better on the lips.

Cast

Jenny Sealey – herself.

Performance Interpreters – Jeni Draper, Ali Gordon, Jude Mahon, Caroline Richardson at different venues.

Creatives

Director – Lee Lyford.

Costume & Set Designer – Anisha Fields.

Lighting Designer – Emma Chapman.

Lighting Techician – Will Gibbs.

Caption/Video Designer – Jonah Sealey Braverman.

Sound Designer/Composer & Associate Director – Lewis Gibson.

Voice Coach – Christopher Holt.

Tour dates

20 – 21 February, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough; 22-23 February, Liverpool Everyman; 29 February – 1 March – Derby Theatre; 4-5 March –Live Theatre, Newcastle; 7-9 March, Mercury Theatre, Colchester; 12- 13 March, Warwick Arts Centre; 14 March, Nottingham Playhouse; 19-20 March, Tobacco Factory, Bristol; 22- 23 March, Leeds Playhouse.