WRITER and performer Sophie Woolley shares her own story of losing her hearing then undergoing life-changing cochlear implant surgery in her second solo show, Augmented.

The show will be in The Salberg at Salisbury Playhouse from tomorrow (March 12) until Saturday (March 14).

It follows her journey being reintroduced to the hearing community. From her experiences of going deaf in her teens as a result of hereditary progressive hearing loss, to being able to stream music directly into her brain as a “cyborg,” Sophie brings to life the transformative power of her Advanced Bionics cochlear implant.

She explains: “It is based on my personal experience of going deaf over 20 years and then having a cochlear implant and hearing again and how that has changed my identity. The play looks at all the different identities I had because of the way deafness impacted on me.”

Sophie was hard of hearing from the age of 18 before going deaf in her 30s. She says: “Like all people who start to go deaf in their early adulthood I was just in denial about it. The surprising part of that is that I am actually from a deaf family.”

But Sophie says as she was from a deaf family and was already familiar with sign language she held that with pride and saw it as a strength.

“I was becoming a deaf person but I knew that was something I could hold with pride. It just took me a while to get there because I had to say goodbye to the hearing me,” Sophie continues.

“It would have been more clear cut if I had suddenly gone deaf but because it happened over time it was like bits of my identify fell off.”

Sophie got a cochlear implant in 2013 and describes getting her hearing back as “being reborn”.

“Now hearing me is back but with a science fiction twist. I’m really happy with how I am now."When I went totally deaf life got really difficult because I was becoming successful as a writer and actor and freelancer and to organise the access for that was a job on top of the job itself.”

Speaking about the show, she says: “I hope the show strikes a cord with lots of hearing people as well as deaf people. It is also a really funny show. It’s not all about deafness, it’s about communication and family and relationships.

“A lot of it is about nostalgia. When I got sound back there was a lot of nostalgia involved in that.”

"It is the first time I’ve written directly about my deaf experience. I hope it will open people’s eyes and also make people feel joy and that we can be deaf and it is okay and we have joy in our lives,” adds Sophie.

Sophie is the director of Augmented Productions, the inaugural associate company of Told by an Idiot.

Tickets: wiltshirecreative.co.uk or by calling 01722 320333.