72 This demonstrates one of the many challenges we face as disabled people. We are told that we should work, but when we try to work our support is taken away from us. I am currently fighting to get support because my disability can leave me bed bound for days in pain, so if I needed time off work, I’m left helpless. But despite telling them everything I have to deal with, the government are telling me I’m not disabled enough. Sealey expressed: I’m so angry at our government at the moment, beyond anger. The fact that there’s more and more disabled led companies out there which means stories which need to be out there. I want to shout ‘Creative world to wake up! The world in general to wake up! That continues to show the goal of both Graeae and Sealey, for the world to see disabled people as what they are, people. Theatre is such an important part of making that happen, you can get people to read articles and pamphlets about these issues, but being in the theatre, in the darkness of the audience, feeling the lights and sounds coming off the stage, seeing the stories and emotions, you make the audience feel and empathise. But it’s not just the anger that motivates Sealey. She continued to say: Anger, fear, fear is another thing. If we are sidelined, then we continue to be sidelined, and we’re not on all the stages, radios and film across everything, we’re not everywhere, people forget who we are, and I’m damned if that’s going to happen. Which is why it excites me that the new generation, you, coming out. You know, this is exciting. Someone else is going to carry, I can pass the baton, always be there to support people, but come on! It’s your turn. You’ve got a bit more energy than me, come on, get going. And it’s ex- citing. So, fear, anger and excitement. And hope. Hope is people like you. How do I make theatre work for me as a person of disability? I don’t. We make theatre work for us as a community, and not just theatre. We make the arts work for us, sports, sciences, maths, all industries work for us. We make the world work for us because, if we’re making a positive change for the world, the world can make a positive change for us. To make that change we have to start at early development, education. If I was successfully able to make this “big topic” fit in just under 8000 words, our government can fit it into their agenda. Bibliography not supplied.
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