1983-1984: Casting Out

In early 1983 Graeae was contacted by Interlink about participating in a cultural exchange programme with an individual in India. Graeae assembled a team of 10 that would travel to India to present an entirely new play. The team was met with several roadblocks along the way. Perhaps most notably, the government support of the trip was revoked just days before the team was set to leave as the Queen announced she would be making a last minute trip to India. However, in true Graeae fashion, they took the trip anyway and performed for thousands.

Graeae toured in Bombay, Calcutta, and Delhi. Their audiences ranged from a group of 860 school children to members of the government including Mrs. Gandhi.

Following the incredible success of the production Graeae decided to tour it within the UK twice. Each tour had a slightly altered cast. The tour was met with rave reviews, and was a major turning point for the company in terms of reach. However, in May of 1984 the Brighton Pavilion cancelled Graeae’s performance due to lack of accessibility of the building. The venue was told of the nature of the production and the needs of the cast, creatives, and audiences when the booked the tour stop. Unfortunately the cast was blocked from performing and the venue refused to find a suitable alternative for the team.

A notable review stated: “Two months after the bill to increase the rights of disabled people has been thrown out of Parliament, the remarkable GRAEAE Theatre Co. have produced a play which powerfully demonstrates the need for such reform….A remarkable testimony to the talent of these performers and the most effective piece of agit-pop I’ve seen for some time.” -Ann McFerran, Time Out, Feb. 1984

Cast and Creative team for tours in India and UK:

Cast:
Frankie Armstrong (UK/India)
Jag Plah (UK/India)
Nabil Shaban (UK/India)
Jim Gibbins (UK/India)
Ellen Wilkie (UK/India)
Hamish McDonald (UK)
Tom Watt (UK)
Director:
Nigel Jamieson (UK/India)
Stage Managers:
Ann Hillyer (UK)
Caroline Oxford (UK)
Kevin Shaw (UK)
Tour Manager:
Ken Palmer (UK)

1988: The Cornflake Box

In 1988 Graeae presented their first community play, The Cornflake Box. The play was written by Elspeth Morrison and directed by Brian Thomas. The story focused on three friends attempting to navigate government regulations around accessible housing. The production was a direct response to the Independent Living Movement.

The Independent Living Movement was an international fight for the basic right to accessible housing. The Independent Living Movement in the UK grew out of Disabled people wanting to move out of institutional or medicalised housing and out into the community. In the United States, the Independent Living Movement grew out of Berkley, California where the first independent living centre in the US was founded.

Following the efforts of the Disabled community, the Independent Living Fund was introduced in 1988. The ILF provided vital support for Disabled individuals to live in the community. The ILF was closed in 2015.

1992: Hound

In 1992 Graeae presented Hound by Maria Oshodi. The production was a slightly belated celebration of Graeae’s 10th birthday. Hound told the story of three blind people who found themselves thrown together at a guide-dog training centre. They soon find that the only thing they have in common is their desire to live independently. While there, a television producer arrives and wants to create a documentary about their experiences.

This production was a direct response to the continued use of Disabled people in documentaries or fundraising campaigns to enact a sense of pity from viewership. In 1990 and 1992, Disabled activists protested outside of ITV to block their telethon efforts, this led to the use of the slogan, “Piss on Pity”. These telethons would use images of Disabled people that were not representative of their actual lives.

Hound is believed to be the first ever professional play to be performed by blink people and written by a blind playwright. Maria Oshodi has gone on to have an incredible career, including founding Extant Theatre Company in 1997. Extant is the UK’s leading profession theatre company of visually impaired artists.

You can learn more about Maria here.
You can learn more about Extant here.

2002-03: peeling

In 2002 Graeae premiered a new play by Kaite O’Reilly, peeling. The production was directed by Jenny Sealey. Alpha, Beaty, and Coral are three actresses in a production of The Trojan Women: Then and Now. Beaty and Coral are both Disabled and Alpha is Deaf. The three of them are there so the theatre can make quota for their equal opportunities monitoring form. They have been pushed to the back of the stage, out of sight, out of mind. Each of them is costumed in a massive, almost immobilising dress. Underneath those layers of fabric are three women who have had to contend with similar experiences of loss.

As these actresses tell the story of mother’s having to sacrifice their children, so they do not meet an even worse fate, you learn that these three women have been forced to contend with similar circumstances. Each of these actresses also mourn for the children they lost to eugenics and genocide. Peeling tells the tale of the importance of bodily autonomy and the cyclical nature of our world. Perhaps this is best demonstrated with their chant: “Women. Children. War.”

The production opened at The Door, Birmingham Rep Theatre, in February 2002. It then toured nationally with the following cast: Lisa Hammond, Caroline Parker, Sophie Partridge

The initial run was so successful that it went on a second national and European tour in 2003. The second tour included the following cast: Sophie Partridge, Ali Briggs, Lizzie Smoczkiewicz.