From Phil:

Well Read is a brilliant service. It is deceptively simple. It is constantly surprising just how it affects people. The basic act of reading drama aloud in a small, safe, welcoming group, brings laughter, confidence, and thought-provoking chat.

I love when service users respond to the twists and turns of a plot, previously unfamiliar to them. I love when an initially shy service users says: ‘I won’t be reading’, which of course, is respected, but by the end of the session, just an hour later, that same service user is asking to play certain parts, keen to have a go.

There have been many friendships formed at our sessions, service users helping each other access sessions, or finding they are neighbours. Discussions spring up from the unlikeliest of places… The healing power of mushrooms, while reading Peter Whelan’s ‘The Herbal Bed’, in the LW Tea Garden; a fiery political exchange, touching on Iraq, reading Agamemnon, after the last general election, at SMART, or speaking about home, and female rights in the tranquil garden of Grenfel Health and Well-Being... while eating amazing home-grown apricots. We have such great diversity at our sessions, a retired ex-actor might play Blanche DuBois from Streetcar opposite someone new to this country and language’s Stanley, those impaired physically or who have extra needs are entirely equal within the straightforward world of reading character. Oppressive barriers that have arisen in our society: Gender, sexuality, class, race and disability, are often more easily negotiated through stories and the uncomplicated act of reading aloud with others. Stripped from the pressure-laden, exam fuelled, environs of school, reading drama for pleasure is liberating... and unusual. It’s not often that we, everyday people, experience theatre, and yet we all depend on it! Drama has been a mainstay of all human culture for millennia. We consume Netflix, Line of Duty, EastEnders, Box sets, Musicals, Disney, Plays and Panto with ever-growing enthusiasm. Speaking aloud has never been more prized in business; video conferencing, social media content, increased understanding of mental health and the demands of face-to-face delivery are all prized assets across varied disciplines, from Doctor to Director of Finance, from care worker to child minder. The seemingly simple act or sharing drama aloud, taking turns to play different parts, no matter the character’s age, gender, race and sexuality is freeing and fun.