69 later when she got the chance to co-direct the 2012 Paralympics. With acrobatics, a towering replica of the universal declaration of human rights, and a story showing the defying abilities of those with disabilities and implementing our belonging in the universe. It was a political statement that lasts with the viewer. My grandmother, who competed in the 1984 Paralympics, noted the ceremony Sealey created has stayed in her mind all these years later. Continuing our interview, we discussed developments Graeae have made to accessible theatre. Sealey shared: One of the things we discovered, was the absolute joy of when we explored embedding audio description into our plays, with actors voicing the descriptions to make the production accessible for blind audiences. I’ve always had interpreters in the mix, always, because I’m Deaf, therefore I need to have access to my own plays but then we have also pioneered creative captions as another accessible way for Deaf people. Many other theatre makers have taken on our aesthetics of access which is brilliant. Because of this evolution in accessibility, Graeae have opened a new world to a potential audience that normally gets left behind. Wanting to have more accessible theatre was a reason I took BSL at university; with this innovation from Graeae they have been able to bring a whole new audience that were forgotten. If the technology could be implemented to more shows, Deaf audiences will feel more comfortable experiencing theatre. Continuing about their progress, Sealey explained: But it’s been a journey of learning what works, what doesn’t work. And what has also been amazing is, that new learning for us. Well, back in the old days, the focus was much more around physically disabled people, deaf, visually impaired, amputees. And learning-disabled people. And now, our biggest learning is how in a rehearsal room, to give space to someone who’s autistic, someone who’s dealing with hidden and invisible impairments, how do we foreground those in our workplace, so everyone feels that they have the space? Sealey explained what challenges her is the conflict of access. When someone visually impaired or autistic says there is too much light in the room but she, and other Deaf performers, need the light to see interpreters. She expressed how interesting she found the dilemmas and working together on what a compromise might be. It was refreshing hearing the challenge of different needs being spoken positively and presented the studios as a safe space, it continued to show Graeae’s resilience to let anyone feel excluded.
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