SELF RAISING AT THE EVERYMAN THEATRE
Self Raising at The Everyman Theatre: RAWD REVIEWS
WRITTEN BY KEZIAH
‘Emotional, funny and uplifting’
My name is Keziah, welcome to RAWD Reviews! I am writing this review because I’d like to share my thoughts on a brilliant show I have seen recently.
On the 23rd of February I went to see Self Raising at The Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. The show was created by Graeae and their Artistic Director, Jenny Sealey. Graeae Theatre Company is a London-based organisation that aims to make great theatre by involving artists who are Deaf, disabled, or neurodiverse. They started by creating shows that challenged stereotypes about disabled people. Since then, they've put on a variety of performances, from original works to Shakespeare and musicals. Not every show they do is about disability, but they all reflect Graeae's spirit.
At first I was a bit worried about going, but when I arrived i could see straight away that it was a relaxed environment which definitely put my mind at ease. I really liked how the show started as Jenny walked through the seats to the stage making all the audience feel included straight from the beginning.
What I found interesting was right from the start she got the audience to participate which I loved as most performers would wait till the middle or end. The reason I thought it was good to get the audience participating from the beginning was because it got us engaged straight away and the way she did it was extremely creative. I really enjoyed that we were involved in the show as audience members. To do this, she used a story called ‘flower babies’ and passed people bags of flour that were named after her family members.
In the show Jenny covered topics that could be sensitive to people and I thought it was really brave. She went into great detail about her life story and growing up being Deaf. She expressed lots of emotion and passion into her backstory which kept the audience interested, I even nearly cried at some parts. It was great to know that the show was based on Jenny’s real life experiences. The performance was emotional, funny and uplifting, I admire her for being able to tell everyone about the horrible stuff she went through as most people would not be able to.
“A heartbreaking but incredibly inspiring story with a fantastic performance.”
One of the things I really loved was the accessibility as she described herself and the set in great detail. She would even describe everything she was doing so people who couldn't see could still understand what was going on and follow the story. At one point she even started to dance and was still able to describe what she was doing which was very impressive.
I thought the themes of the story were very sad but very inspiring. She showed the audience that we have to move on from bad stuff, but it’s okay to take your time.
I thought the show was extremely interesting and very well done, I would recommend it. However, there are a few sensitive topics, one being assault, so make sure you are okay with hearing about that before you decide to go.
I would give the show a 5 stars out of 5 as I think Jenny did a amazing job telling her story and inspiring other people, it is definitely a must see and I don't think anything needs to be improved!
CREATIVE CORNER:
This is a place for Keziah to share any of her creative ideas!
This drawing is of a character called Draculaura from Monster High. I drew it because I love Monster High and she is my favourite character. I really relate to her fun and bubbly personality!