In 1981, a cheesed off Ian Dury penned the provocative Spasticus Autisticus in response to the UN’s International Year of Disabled Persons. Himself disabled, Dury reacted in typical sardonic fashion to what he saw as patronising appeals from various charities.
But while he might have had little time for campaigns painting disabled people as helpless victims, he was more than ready to support those he deemed worthy - among them the groundbreaking performance company Graeae, which, nearly 40 years after its founders met in Coventry, continues to be one of the most dynamic, innovative and exciting forces in British theatre today.
Years after Dury’s death, the company now pays tribute to its illustrious patron with a show that’s inspired by his music - and heading for the Coventry Belgrade Theatre next month.
Set in 1979 at the height of Ian Dury & The Blockheads’ fame, Reasons To Be Cheerful follows the attempts of teenager Vinnie and his best mate Colin to get Vinnie’s terminally ill dad to a Blockheads gig for a “final, fantastic night out”. Along the way, there’s romance, music and mishaps galore as Billy’s crush, Janine, joins the crew, the car breaks down en route, and the characters perform their own riotous renditions of Blockheads hits. In the words of Graeae’s Artistic Director, Jenny Sealey, musical this may be, but conventional “musical featah” it is not.
First staged in 2010, the show went on to tour again in 2012, after an excerpt featured at the London Paralympics Opening Ceremony. Since then, concert versions have toured both nationally and internationally, but this new production will be the first in a while, and may also be the last...
“The gang still loves doing it, but they’re getting older now,” says Sealey. “It’s a very high-energy show, and I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be able to do it, so we decided we’d try one last time for a full UK tour. We’re calling it the last ever tour of Reasons To Be Cheerful, although in my heart I don’t think it will be. I think right now, given the state of our world, we all need a reason to be cheerful.”
Best known for its radical approach to accessibility, Graeae puts features like signing, captioning and audio description at the heart of its productions, making them part of the story for everyone to enjoy, instead of sidelining them as added extras.
“Every Graeae show is different,” continues Sealey. “We never add access on. It comes from looking at the script, who the characters are and what we’re trying to say, and thinking about what access brings to that.
“In this show, a lot of the songs are really fast, and the lyrics often have names and places in them, which would have to be finger-spelled if you signed them. Obviously that doesn’t read very well in theatre, so we came up with this concept where Colin has made a series of short films with the lyrics and images, so there are still pictorial representations of the words for deaf people who find reading English difficult. But interestingly, we’ve actually had a lot of hearing audience members saying that it’s brilliant having the lyrics in writing because they hadn’t previously picked up on everything. Some of the songs are also signed - signing is really embedded within the choreography - and also because Colin is deaf in the story, him and Billy sign to each other.
“For blind audiences, we’ve got Pickles, who uses a 1970s payphone to talk to the audience through their headsets - and throughout the play, other characters will come over and say hello. And because it’s live, if something goes really tits up on stage, they can also relay what’s happened.”
With Sealey having been deaf herself since the age of seven, directing a musical might not seem like the most obvious choice. Like the rest of her team, however, she’s someone who relishes a challenge.
“It’s funny! It is a bit bonkers, but you know, I’ve also recently done an opera for the first time, which is even more ridiculous. But it’s been really interesting to re-educate myself and re-learn how to feel music.”
Although she lost her hearing before the Blockheads formed, Sealey was nevertheless a big fan in her youth, owing partly to her sister’s help - and even more to her dad’s disapproval.
“On Top Of The Pops, Ian Dury always had a microphone in front of his mouth, which made it even harder to work out what he was saying, but my sister was brilliant! She’d spend hours writing down the lyrics so that I could have access to music. But also my dad hated Ian Dury, so of course that made me like him even more.”
With her memories of the punk era, Sealey sees clear parallels between the time the play is set and our own austerity Britain, pointing to things like pressure on public services, reinforced class divisions and the exploitation and dismissal of young people. These links perhaps go some way to explaining the show’s enduring, cross-generational appeal.
“It’s been extraordinary. I remember the first time we did it, all these men in suits arrived and it seemed bizarre. But as soon as the music started, their ties were undone, their jackets were off and they were drumming away - once a punk, always a punk, I suppose! But I think a lot of the songs have real resonance again now, and what’s also been brilliant is that we’ve had a whole load of young people who’re on their phones downloading the music as soon as they leave the theatre.”
With Graeae co-founders Nabil Shaban and Richard Tomlinson having originally met in Coventry, Sealey is looking forward to taking the company back to the city where it all started.
"It's brilliant. It feels like Graeae’s going home, and I think it's really important that we are starting to rebuild our relationship with Coventry. I hope that Coventry gets the City of Culture because I think it will be so good for it - and it will mean that Graeae can come back and do a lot more work there!"
Reasons To Be Cheerful shows at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre on Friday 8 & Saturday 9 September
In 1981, a cheesed off Ian Dury penned the provocative Spasticus Autisticus in response to the UN’s International Year of Disabled Persons. Himself disabled, Dury reacted in typical sardonic fashion to what he saw as patronising appeals from various charities.
But while he might have had little time for campaigns painting disabled people as helpless victims, he was more than ready to support those he deemed worthy - among them the groundbreaking performance company Graeae, which, nearly 40 years after its founders met in Coventry, continues to be one of the most dynamic, innovative and exciting forces in British theatre today.
Years after Dury’s death, the company now pays tribute to its illustrious patron with a show that’s inspired by his music - and heading for the Coventry Belgrade Theatre next month.
Set in 1979 at the height of Ian Dury & The Blockheads’ fame, Reasons To Be Cheerful follows the attempts of teenager Vinnie and his best mate Colin to get Vinnie’s terminally ill dad to a Blockheads gig for a “final, fantastic night out”. Along the way, there’s romance, music and mishaps galore as Billy’s crush, Janine, joins the crew, the car breaks down en route, and the characters perform their own riotous renditions of Blockheads hits. In the words of Graeae’s Artistic Director, Jenny Sealey, musical this may be, but conventional “musical featah” it is not.
First staged in 2010, the show went on to tour again in 2012, after an excerpt featured at the London Paralympics Opening Ceremony. Since then, concert versions have toured both nationally and internationally, but this new production will be the first in a while, and may also be the last...
“The gang still loves doing it, but they’re getting older now,” says Sealey. “It’s a very high-energy show, and I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be able to do it, so we decided we’d try one last time for a full UK tour. We’re calling it the last ever tour of Reasons To Be Cheerful, although in my heart I don’t think it will be. I think right now, given the state of our world, we all need a reason to be cheerful.”
Best known for its radical approach to accessibility, Graeae puts features like signing, captioning and audio description at the heart of its productions, making them part of the story for everyone to enjoy, instead of sidelining them as added extras.
“Every Graeae show is different,” continues Sealey. “We never add access on. It comes from looking at the script, who the characters are and what we’re trying to say, and thinking about what access brings to that.
“In this show, a lot of the songs are really fast, and the lyrics often have names and places in them, which would have to be finger-spelled if you signed them. Obviously that doesn’t read very well in theatre, so we came up with this concept where Colin has made a series of short films with the lyrics and images, so there are still pictorial representations of the words for deaf people who find reading English difficult. But interestingly, we’ve actually had a lot of hearing audience members saying that it’s brilliant having the lyrics in writing because they hadn’t previously picked up on everything. Some of the songs are also signed - signing is really embedded within the choreography - and also because Colin is deaf in the story, him and Billy sign to each other.
“For blind audiences, we’ve got Pickles, who uses a 1970s payphone to talk to the audience through their headsets - and throughout the play, other characters will come over and say hello. And because it’s live, if something goes really tits up on stage, they can also relay what’s happened.”
With Sealey having been deaf herself since the age of seven, directing a musical might not seem like the most obvious choice. Like the rest of her team, however, she’s someone who relishes a challenge.
“It’s funny! It is a bit bonkers, but you know, I’ve also recently done an opera for the first time, which is even more ridiculous. But it’s been really interesting to re-educate myself and re-learn how to feel music.”
Although she lost her hearing before the Blockheads formed, Sealey was nevertheless a big fan in her youth, owing partly to her sister’s help - and even more to her dad’s disapproval.
“On Top Of The Pops, Ian Dury always had a microphone in front of his mouth, which made it even harder to work out what he was saying, but my sister was brilliant! She’d spend hours writing down the lyrics so that I could have access to music. But also my dad hated Ian Dury, so of course that made me like him even more.”
With her memories of the punk era, Sealey sees clear parallels between the time the play is set and our own austerity Britain, pointing to things like pressure on public services, reinforced class divisions and the exploitation and dismissal of young people. These links perhaps go some way to explaining the show’s enduring, cross-generational appeal.
“It’s been extraordinary. I remember the first time we did it, all these men in suits arrived and it seemed bizarre. But as soon as the music started, their ties were undone, their jackets were off and they were drumming away - once a punk, always a punk, I suppose! But I think a lot of the songs have real resonance again now, and what’s also been brilliant is that we’ve had a whole load of young people who’re on their phones downloading the music as soon as they leave the theatre.”
With Graeae co-founders Nabil Shaban and Richard Tomlinson having originally met in Coventry, Sealey is looking forward to taking the company back to the city where it all started.
"It's brilliant. It feels like Graeae’s going home, and I think it's really important that we are starting to rebuild our relationship with Coventry. I hope that Coventry gets the City of Culture because I think it will be so good for it - and it will mean that Graeae can come back and do a lot more work there!"
Reasons To Be Cheerful shows at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre on Friday 8 & Saturday 9 September
By Heather Kincaid