Access All Areas

A Celebration Of 10 Years of Inclusivity at Watermill Theatre Monday 28 July, 3.30pm – 6.30pm.

Joint CEOs Claire Murray and Paul Hart, and the whole team at the Watermill Theatre, are delighted to announce Access All Areas, a celebration marking ten years of their programme of inclusive work, funded by Greenham Trust.

Past, current and prospective participants and their families are invited to the Watermill for a free afternoon of activities, taster drama sessions (from primary aged children through to adults), and an opportunity to meet the Watermill team and connect with local partner organisations.

During the afternoon, there will be a performance in the theatre of ‘Beyond the Barrier’, written by Emelia Hutchinson in collaboration with Watermill’s regular participants aged 7 through to adults, who responded to the theme with their thoughts and ideas.

Life is idyllic, playing in the lush natural surroundings. Until, one day, something changes.  In a bid to protect the community a barrier is put in places, but the community is left full of questions.  What is beyond the barrier?  Where is the danger really coming from?  In amongst the many stories, where does the truth lie?

As time passes, a few children venture out to see what the truth is, but will they ever return and what will they discover? 

Over the last 10 years, this funded programme of work at the Watermill supported by Greenham Trust has been wide-reaching; impacting, improving and the enriching lives of people living throughout West Berkshire and North Hampshire.

The programme has supported young people aged 8-17 who are deaf, neurodivergent or have added complications in their lives to access the Watermill Youth Theatre programme.

The outreach programme has engaged displaced communities, offered wellbeing sessions for adults with mental health needs, delivered monthly drama sessions for early years’ families and taught drama skills to adults with a learning disability.

“I was beaming with pride at him stood there on stage and his voice bellowed out to all watching. He seemed so relaxed, focused and content.

I can’t express enough how much this group has encouraged him to develop into the young man I saw before us all yesterday!” Participant’s family member

The Watermill’s commitment to inclusion has been embedded across the organisation, with the expansion of the access services offered across the theatre programme, including pioneering BSL integrated performances, Audio Described, Relaxed and Captioned performances, making theatre more accessible and inclusive to all.

In 2025, every Watermill production in the theatre has at least one access service offered, with both Jesus Christ Superstar and The Little Mermaid offering integrated BSL, closed captioning audio description and relaxed performances.

An understanding of how to make theatre accessible is woven throughout the Youth Ensemble production process, with the young people learning BSL, and creating and delivering the captioning and audio description services.

Claire Murray, Executive Director of the Watermill said, “It is brilliant to celebrate the last ten years of our inclusive programme at the Watermill and look ahead to what we hope to achieve over the next ten.  Thanks to the ongoing support from Greenham Trust, we are able to respond to the needs of our community and create opportunities for people to engage with the arts in a supportive environment.

We look forward to celebrating with our participants, past and present, and welcoming some new families to the Watermill for the first time.”

Chris Boulton, Chief Executive of Greenham Trust said, “Greenham Trust are delighted to celebrate 10 years of Community Associate funding at The Watermill.

We have already renewed the programme twice and see it as an on-going key feature of what the Watermill offers to those people in the local area who directly benefit from accessibility and inclusivity of the theatre due to the challenges they face in their lives.

There have been a significant number of participants over the years, and the Watermill should feel rightly proud of their achievements.”

The Access All Areas celebration is free to attend, but booking is advised by calling the box office on 01635 46044 or online at watermill.org.uk. A BSL interpreter will be available throughout the day.