The Watermill Theatre and Reading Rep Theatre Collaborate on Events For Berkshire Deaf Community

Berkshire theatres The Watermill Theatre in Newbury and Reading Rep Theatre in Reading have announced that they have joined forces to host events at both their venues for the local deaf community.

The events are part of the theatres’ commitments to welcoming deaf audiences and creatives to their theatres. The events are to allow the theatres to get to know their local deaf community better, allowing the community to give their feedback and opinions on how the theatres can improve their service alongside providing an opportunity for British Sign Language (BSL) learners.

The first event, hosted at The Watermill Theatre in Newbury, will take place on Thursday 2nd November from 6pm-7pm and will comprise of a light buffet dinner with time to chat about forthcoming events. BSL interpreters will be present at the event and the evening will be followed by a captioned performance of Macbeth in the theatre. Tickets to the performance following the event can be purchased at www.watermill.org.uk/macbeth_2023.

The second event, hosted at the Reading Rep Theatre in Reading, will take place on Saturday 11th November from 3pm-4:30pm. BSL interpreters will be present and the event will comprise of a fun family afternoon with a free drama session at 3:30pm, followed by cream tea with cakes and scones.

Both events are free and do not require prior booking.

Lixi Chivas, Community Associate at The Watermill Theatre said, ”It’s really exciting that deaf representation has been flourishing in recent years, in lots of areas. As theatres, we’re both committed to welcoming deaf audiences and creatives. We want to get to know our local deaf community better, as well as provide opportunities for BSL learners to improve their signing. The more we get to know each other, the more connections we can build together.”

Chris Cuming, Associate Director and Director of Engage said, “It’s so good to be working with the Watermill Theatre on these exciting events. We can't wait to welcome more people to our theatres and to get to know more about the communities around us. As a new venue, Reading Rep is taking every opportunity to learn about its community and how we can make our venue more inclusive and make sure more people get to experience live theatre. Come down and have a chat over a nice cup of tea and cake and get to know Reading's only professional producing theatre”.