                       |
 One
of Grange Hill's strengths, especially in recent years, has been its
portrayal of illness and disability. Secondary school is tough for
anyone, so imagine what it must be like when you suffer from cerebral
palsy?
Well that's exactly what Rachel Burns had to deal with. The character appeared in Grange Hill between 1994 and 1998 and in spite of her disability Rachel was always one of the girls. Now Francesca Martinez, the actress who played her and who suffers from CP in real life, is using her biting sense of humour to carve out a new career for herself as a stand-up comedienne. And the audiences love her! So what is the secret of Francesca's success? Well in short, she's never let her problems stand in her way and has spent her life wisecracking her way through prejudice. In Bliss magazine, she spoke of her experiences. "Whenever we went to the hospital, I was angry that everyone spoke to Mum as if I wasn't there. So when one patronising doctor asked if anything funny happened to me during the night, I replied; 'I grow another pair of ears and get green spots all over my head'. He was gobsmacked. My folks sent me to a mainstream secondary school and I didn't face any prejudice there. If anyone asked me why I shake I'd say I'd been struck by lighting! And to anyone who asked why I talked funny, I made out I was from an exotic country and had a strange accent!"Francesca enjoyed fitting in at primary school, but at secondary school bigoted classmates shunned her. "Everyone was becoming aware of their looks and it wasn't cool to have a disabled mate. One girl even said 'if only we were lucky enough to get a taxi to school!'" True to form, Francesca put this individual firmly in her place; "Well if I could walk that far, don't you think I would?" she replied. Sadly though the taunts continued. Even a teacher refused to recognise Francesca's limitations, leading to a stand-off in the school canteen on one occasion. But then, Francesca's world was to change for the better. A teacher rang her at home to say that Grange Hill were looking for a disabled girl to join the series - why didn't she audition? She did, and Francesca beat off 40 other girls to star as Rachel.
She made friends among the cast easily, and soon viewers were stopping Fran in the street wanting her autograph. When she left Grange Hill in 1998, acting work dried up because no directors wanted a disabled actress. So how did Fran get into comedy? Well, her father wrote a film for her in which she was to play a stand-up comedienne. Although the film never got made, Fran enrolled on a comedy course while researching the role. She was taught a comedy technique known as "rant and rave", and that brought out the wit in Fran. She lampooned Glenn Hoddle's infamous remarks about disabled people having committed sins in past lives: "I've had some great past lives," she began. "The time when I was an axe murderer was really something!" After Fran's five-minute stint the others in the group couldn't stop laughing!That led to greater things. After doing a few comedy gigs she was offered a spot at The Comedy Store in London. This would either make or break Fran's career, and there was an awkward hush as she was helped onto the stage. Clearly people were not expecting a disabled girl to make them laugh. But her opening line stunned the audience: "In case you were wandering, the correct term for my condition is...sober!" Then followed a string of observations which won over the crowd. Since then, Fran has appeared at the Edinburgh Festival and won Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny. She has also won the Daily Telegraph Open Mike award for her poignant observations. So what now for the future? "I'm hoping to get financial backing to make Dad's film. Sometimes I can't believe how much I've achieved!"* For more information about cerebral palsy, call SCOPE on (020) 7619 7100. Or click here to visit their web site. |
