A Shining Example

Just like champagne, Sarah Gordy’s favourite drink, everything about her sparkles. This effervescent actor glows with enthusiasm and excitemet for her chosen career, combined with a lively sense of fun and the awareness she is an impressive role model.
Her hard work and dedication have not only seen her cast in a diverse range of challenging roles in the theatre and on television series, but also the accolade of being awarded an MBE for services to the arts and people with disabilities in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
She was the first woman with Downs Syndrome to receive an MBE and in the same year she received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Nottingham, she is the first person
with Downs Syndrome to be awarded such an honour by a British university.
Now Sarah is rehearsing for a prestigious performance in July at The National Theatre in London, revisiting her starring role as Kelly in Jellyfish, the radical and heartfelt play about coming of age with Downs Syndrome which had a sold-out run last year at the Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush.
Unlike many who have gone on to stardom in the world of theatre and television, acting wasn’t a childhood dream for Sarah – it was at the core of her being right from the start.
“I didn’t dream about being an actor,” she says. “That is what we did all the time as a family, we enjoy fantasy. I didn’t think about it as a job, it’s always been just what I do.”
Lewes has been the family home since 1992. Sarah’s father comes from Abbeville in Louisiana and her mother is from Kent. They met in London while working for two different oil companies and because of her father’s job, they moved to the United States, later returning when Sara was 16 and settling in Lewes.
Sarah attended Sussex Downs College and with her creative side coming to the fore, it was only natural that she would become increasingly involved in acting and make it her career.
“I learn through creativity,” she explains. “Every story is a new world and you have to learn about it and the people. To understand today you have to understand a bit of history.”
It wasn’t long before acting roles came Sarah’s way and it quickly emerged that she had enormous talent and flair. Her mother Jane took on the role of drama coach and mentor.
“Carlton TV were looking for somebody with Downs Syndrome to do three weeks filming for Peak Practice,” Sarah recalls. “Although I wasn’t part of Carousel Theatre in Brighton, they knew of me and made the introductions. My mum rehearsed me to my fingertips so on set, people kept asking me what I had done before. I took to it like a duck to water and after the filming finished, I felt lonely without my character sharing my head.
“The programme was well received and the writer Lisa Evans – I call her the Mother of my Career – was commissioned to write a play called Once We Were Mothers. It was performed in Newcastle-under-Lyme, in a big space with seven or eight hundred seats in the round. During rehearsals everybody obviously forgot I had never been in a professional play before. Janice McKenzie asked me if I ever got first night nerves, as though I had done it many times before.
“I replied ‘I don’t do nerves, it’s my mum who does nerves’. That has become a family story – that I contract out my nerves! Mum often says it isn’t my problem, that’s her job. She got me to do my daily dance workout in the space every day so that I made it my home, filled with imaginary friends. So when we opened, for me it wasn’t a first night.”
As Lisa went on to play a huge variety of roles in both theatre and television, she became one of the pioneers in leading the way for those with Downs Syndrome being respected as actors in their own right and given roles because of their talents rather than solely in relation to their condition.
“In the beginning most of the TV roles for an actor with Downs Syndrome were not very complicated,” Sarah explains. “I think I have made a difference and creative people started to see difference as an opportunity.
“I am so grateful to writers like Lisa Evans, Heidi Thomas and JK Rowlings. Heidi created a wonderful role in Upstairs Downstairs and then wrote for me in Call the Midwife. JK Rowlings trusted me to play a character with brain damage in The Silkworm, part of the Strike series.
“In the very beginning, assistant directors were always worried that I might slow down the schedule – they are under great pressure on a TV project. After a couple of days they treated me like I was the best thing since sliced bread. I do my job, I am very fit and very happy.
“What I have done at various conferences and other platforms is to encourage commissioners to trust the writers and other creatives who want to create interesting characters, different characters, played by people who are different.”
One of Sarah’s most challenging roles was performing in Cultural Device at The Royal Opera House and developing her dancing skills.
“I am a woman and an actor first,” she says. “However Daniel Vais of Cultural Device gave me wonderful opportunities to be truly liberated through dance. We would go to a gig and I would hear the music for the first time when they were doing the tech, lights and sound. The second time would be the actual performance.
“I danced in several countries in Europe, to pieces by Kraftwerk and other strange and wonderful stuff, once to something like a ticking clock. The music comes into my ears through my body, it always seems to create a story in my head. Sometimes I am fighting for my life or experiencing other high emotions. It feels great not to be polite and gentle all the time.
“The choreographers saw me dance to something else and wanted me for the Sacrificial solo in the Rites of Spring, which got the Royal Opera House interested. Daniel put together a company of people with Downs Syndrome and together with some of the ROH ballet dancers, we performed at the Hamlyn Hall to a full house.
“We did a couple of hours every Friday for a few months with people in the ballet. They were so kind and very, very interesting. It was truly wonderful for us all, a joyful experience and I am very grateful.”
Sarah is now in rehearsals for Jellyfish at the National Theatre, a provocative play which focuses on coming of age for a character with Downs Syndrome – and that memorable first kiss.
“It isn’t my first stage kiss and it is not a problem, my characters have lives,” she says. “By the time you actually kiss in a performance you have worked and made friends with other actors and it is our characters who kiss, not us.”
Sarah loves every element of her career but top of the list is being part of a play or TV drama series.
“It is what I live for. Being with a team, creating a story, I’m truly happy when I work.
I’ve worked with wonderful people, some well-known, some not so well-known. Perhaps I have the casting directors to thank for creating teams who are happy and generous in their work. Nearly all my friends are people I have worked with, often several times, especially writers.
“I have drunk champagne with the naughty Judi Dench and would love to work with her because I know I would learn so much and it would be really fun. Same with Eddie Redmayne, he is modest, good company and a good actor. Working with him would be great.
“I really love working, I am living another life which energises me. To relax I love to sit and chat with actors and other colleagues, have a drink, eat some food. I do need physical exercise almost every day, dancing or working out to youtube clips does the trick. Time off, I love the theatre of course and the cinema. I am really pleased The National and The Royal Opera House etc stream live performances to cinemas. I don’t always have time or money to see performances live.
“I am on several local government committees which is interesting and I enjoy my colleagues there too. I do love variety and being useful.”
Sarah is used to her significance as a role model for people with disabilities and this has led to her doing a considerable amount of high-profile modelling in front of the camera.
“I’ve done quite a lot of photographic work, have been in Vogue Italia and will be in Elle soon as the photoshoot for this had already happened. I haven’t done any catwalk work – I’m only five foot tall so they would have to do quite a bit of planning and sewing before they used me! But the fashion world is interested in me, so maybe I will do it one day. I like new experiences and I love clothes.
“Mencap had a campaign with Rankin and he was wonderful, did some amazing photography. All the models were photographed in black T-shirts but I brought my black leather jacket and tight black trousers. It was fun and outrageous. Rankin was a sweetheart, he had heard I liked champagne and gave me a bottle of Dom Perignon, it was lush.”
Sarah’s wider role as an ambassador for people with Downs Syndrome led to one of the highlights of her life so far, receiving her MBE from Prince William last November.
“I was so happy to meet Prince William, he was so charming and really interested in my acting and work on Mencap campaigns. That evening the family celebrated in West Dulwich at my sister’s house and a few glasses of champagne were enjoyed. A really great day to remember.”
Family is very significant for Sarah. As well as her mum Jane being vital as drama coach and mentor, Sarah’s younger sister Catherine helps write her speeches and talks as well as managing her website.
Equally important is Sarah’s life in Lewes.
“I really enjoy the days when I can help out at the Lewes British Heart Foundation shop and see my friends there,” she says.
“After Peak Practice and Once We Were Mothers, I joined the junior drama group at The Lewes Little Theatre. That was great fun, lovely people. I didn’t actually perform there but it was a great experience.
“Lewes is a great place to live. I like to go to independent businesses where possible, so I love all the pubs and cafes available like Needlemakers, and The Depot is cool.
“I love the town’s history, too. We made a short film called Time Slip, set in Lewes and it’s on my website. Unfortunately in history, people like me were hidden, so to date there haven’t been many roles for me in period drama.
“Jellyfish will be shown at The National from June 5-16, with a tour to follow later in the year. I have quite a bit of TV in the pipeline also, although that hasn’t been made public yet, and Catherine and I are working on a really exciting project at the moment – still secret!”