Deafiant

Jenny Sealey has spent her career to date championing the work of Deaf and Disabled artists and the importance of having their stories on our stages and screens. Now, she shares her own experience as a Deaf theatre-maker and advocate in a highly personal book.
In this book, she discusses running disabled-led Graeae theatre company for the past 30 years. She reveals her passionate and long-standing commitment to inclusivity and equality within the arts and how she and Graeae have made strides in the area, including the creative integration of sign language, captioning and audio description in performance.
Irreverent, frank and profound, Sealey is an inspiring spokesperson for disabled artists' rights, the importance of theatre within our cultural ecosystem and the power of performance to find connections and make positive change in the world.
The stories she shares in this book of growing up in a family where she suffered abuse and shame amongst her peers and teachers for her deafness are not easy to read, but they're crucial in understanding the unjust struggles that have accompanied Sealey on her remarkable journey.

Jenny Sealey OBE has been Graeae's Artistic Director since 1997. She has pioneered a new theatrical language entitled 'aesthetics of artistic access', embedding BSL (British Sign Language) and English, pre-recorded BSL, creative captioning and in-ear/live audio description into the heart of all productions. She co-directed the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony alongside Bradley Hemmings and has won the Liberty Human Rights Arts Award and appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. She is an honorary fellow at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Middlesex University, University of Kent, Nottingham Trent University and Rose Bruford College. She received an MBE in 2009 for her contributions to disability arts and an OBE in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Foreword by Sam Tatlow MBE
Introduction
Chapter 1: Various Starting Points
Chapter 2: First Funding Application: Notes and Meanderings
Chapter 3: Rehearsals
Chapter 4: Reflections and Learning
Chapter 5: Opening Ceremony: London 2012 Paralympic Games
Chapter 6: The Rite of Spring, Or The Limbless Knight
Chapter 7: Big Girl Pants
Chapter 8: In Touch
Chapter 9: Interpreters
Chapter 10: Travels With My Interpreters
Chapter 11: Forgotten Disabled Women Warriors
Chapter 12: All Things Vaginas
Chapter 13: Rest
Chapter 14: Graeae's Ongoing Conversations and Battles
Chapter 15: This Is Not For You
Chapter 16: An Opera: Paradis Files
Chapter 17: Lockdown
Lockdown Short Plays: Crips Without Constraints
Lockdown Radio: Bartholomew Abominations
Lockdown Shakespeare: The Tempest - Swimming for Beginners
Chapter 18: Grounding: Orpheus Centre
Chapter 19: Grounding: Hereward College
Chapter 20: Grounding: Graeae's Young Companies
Chapter 21: Self-Raising
Chapter 22: Romeo and Juliet: A Learning Curve
Chapter 23: Bad Lads
Chapter 24: Journeys in Radio
Chapter 25: Twenty-five Things I Have Learnt
Chapter 26: Some Stand-Out Moments
Chapter 27: The Last Bit - For Now
Post Script