Able-bodied shouldn’t play Richard III, says deaf director

Non-disabled Michelle Terry was cast in the role of Richard III at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Able-bodied actors shouldn’t play Richard III, a theatre director has suggested.

Jenny Sealey, who co-directed the opening ceremony for the London Paralympics in 2012, said performers from the deaf and disabled community should play those roles instead.

Ms Sealey runs Graeae Theatre Company, which is composed of deaf and disabled artists. Her comments come months after Shakespeare’s Globe came under fire for casting a non-disabled actor to play Richard III, who suffered from the spinal condition scoliosis.

Sealey, who has been deaf since the age of seven, told Desert Island Discs: “It’s a whole series of a few steps, or wheels, forward and a hundred back.

“We have been making some fantastic in-roads.

“But at the same time, there are people who are creeping up, saying I could play Richard III, and it’s like hang on a minute.”

It was revealed in January that Michelle Terry, the Globe’s artistic director, will play the role in a summer production of Richard III at the London theatre. The theatre responded to criticism by saying that “all actors have a right to play all parts”.

Jenny Sealey with an award for the Graeae Theatre Company at the Guildhall in London on Oct 23, 2022 – Ian West/PA

Ms Sealey continued: “The world out there thinks that acting should be about playing anybody, absolutely, I get that.

“And people say ‘Oh Jenny, you want your cake and you can eat it’.

“I said too right, I do, because we actually have not had a full cake yet, we’ve been given slivers.

“I want the full cake and I want more, so I do want, for my artists, and the deaf and disabled community, to play the roles that are for deaf and disabled characters.

“But also, a whole plethora of roles, until we have absolute priority.”

She continued: “Best practice? Have deaf and disabled people in the room when you’re casting. I always cast the best person for the job.

“Their physicality, their disability, their impairment, that is part of who they are. Can they act? Yes, brilliant. And if they’re rubbish then they don’t get the job.”

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