About us

A child is raised in Reading, just outside London. She’s told it’s great because of corporate growth. Around her, 120 languages are spoken but the only one different to her own is in the cornershop, which lots of people laugh at. Something’s not right. Around her, people are building mansions minutes away from families who can’t afford a car.

She likes to act, dance and sing so she joins a drama club. It’s run by a volunteer Dad who works as an accountant. There’s loads of children, all happy, all passionate. She stays for years and looks around the town for the next opportunity. There is none. She leaves the town.

Hundreds of miles away, a teenage boy pushes his mum in her wheelchair to the theatre. Reduced view. Awkward parking. Awkward Loo. Awkward teenager. They love theatre and the full bursary she got him means he can act all day on his posh school’s stage. Acting transforms him.

In 2006, Dani and Toby meet at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. They graduate and they act and, in 2011, they return to Reading, determined to make a difference.

The preparation for the launch of Reading Between the Lines Theatre Company (RBL) begins.

Dani and Toby survey local people, asking what they think of the local cultural scene. A few things repeatedly come up:

• People want plays in Reading.
• It’s too expensive to go to London to see a show.
• There’s a frustration at Reading’s reputation for being a modern corporate town. It’s not modern, it’s ancient. It’s also leaking creative people who must leave to find work.

Parents and friends help with the riveting tasks of forming a CIC and learning budgets.

In January, Reading Between the Lines Theatre Company is registered at Companies House.

Dani and Toby devise an event to launch the company; a one day new writing event that celebrates local talent.

They ask 24 professionals to volunteer for the day and they all say yes. They ask John at South Street if they can use the theatre for peanuts. He says yes. In what will evolve into part of RABBLE’s accessible cultural careers programme, they invite four work experience students to join the company to observe, contribute and even perform their own short piece - the winning entry of the Find A Reading Writer competition organised a month earlier.

They try to sell 120 tickets.

It sells out.

Four writers take it in turns to write one 20 minute play each, with the end of one becoming the start of the next. A writer’s relay, if you will. They have 24hrs each, Monday to Friday, and at 7.30am on Friday morning the actors and directors get given their scripts. They have to learn and rehearse the shows and perform them that night - word perfect.

It’s a success. The audience erupts and Reading Between the Lines is launched. Off the Block has taken place every year since 2012.

“Based on this performance they deserve your respect, your loyalty and your money.” Remotegoat, Five Stars

Whilst acting in London at night and teaching at the weekends, the pair prepare for their first production. They select Reading Minster as their venue; a central, accessible, historical building that’s routinely ignored. They survey local residents and put together this (excruciatingly embarrassing) crowdfunder film, and walk around local businesses to ask for sponsorship. Notably, Jude Chapman - the mother of students Dani has taught for years - of Dancia International commits, as do The Head Partnership Solicitors who have supported every year since.

Hal Chambers comes on board as director to lead a team of mostly local cast and creatives, which includes four work experience actors. They rehearse at The Abbey School, partner with Jelly (the wonderful local Art organisation) to create a production-themed art exhibition. They make jams and chutneys to sell behind the bar, train their advanced front of house team - Dani’s mum and step dad - and open the doors to a show packed with music, movement and atmosphere.

To everyone’s astonishment, over 1,000 audience members give standing ovations every night. The show, which contains a relaxed performance and BSL signed performance (as has every one since), gets 12 Five Star Reviews and endless messages of praise.

“Just exquisite. Never knew you could have so much fun in a church” Twitter
“Overall the production could not be faulted” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ RemoteGoat
“A sheer joy to watch… a company to watch out for in the future.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ British Theatre Guide

Proof that Reading wants ambitious professional theatre is obtained.

RBL’s first Arts Council England (ACE) application is submitted and approved.

In the Minster and with Hal Chambers established as Associate Director, they prepare a production of Romeo and Juliet set amidst the London riots of 2011. Electronic festival DJ Benjamin Hudson aka Brain Rays comes in as composer, bemused as to why anyone thinks he can do theatre and Zoe Squire takes on the modern design of this torn world, with local Lighting designer Olly Welsh, who is recovering from the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Rehearsals commence in a disused education building, again giving work experience and community opportunities to local aspiring professionals. An 8 month pregnant Dani (also a trained stage combat director) is unleashed on the fights with Mark Middleton, now a long-established RABBLE family member. The audience increases to almost 2,000, responses are better than the producers cou;d have imagined and the play transfers to Greenwich Theatre.

“If RBL keeps making productions like this it won't be long before Reading has the reputation as one of the most vibrant and exciting cultural hubs in the country” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reading Post

“RBL have created a play that would easily fit into the West End… It’s Shakespeare like you’ve never seen it before” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Xn Media

“Splendid, dynamic and vibrant production” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ British Theatre Guide

“A stellar, powerful production” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reading Chronicle

Emma Lawrence (aka M) joins our Front of House team as a volunteer, years later becoming General Manager of the company. She displays a unique ability to connect with audience members in a way that makes them feel like she’s an old friend. The spirit of RABBLE is in good hands.

The same year, RBL’s youth company perform the National Theatre Connections plays, Chatroom and 45 Minutes, at South Street Arts Centre and Salisbury Playhouse. Directed by Dani and Benedict Sandiford and produced in association with Berkshire Theatre School, the process gives unprecedented opportunity and exposure to local children, “Such vibrant, energetic, well-performed theatre could well be the thing to draw young audiences back to the theatre.” GetReading.

Reading Gaol closes and Toby begins campaigning for it to be transformed into an arts centre.

RABBLE’s production of Much Ado About Nothing is staged inside St James’ Church, Forbury Gardens. The play doubles down on RBL’s focus on gender equality, spurred by retrograde comments such as “Women lack the ferocity, aggression & killer instinct to be effective infantry soldiers” from the Former Commander of British forces in Afghanistan. To which, Beatrice replied:

“O God, that I were a man!
I would eat his heart in the marketplace.”

The play is set inside a UK military camp in Afghanistan. Phil Dunster returns to Reading to take on the role of Claudio and Brain Rays’ sound design leads to apache helicopters circling the inside of the church. Audience demand exceeds capacity, with queues forming around the building and the press response makes all the effort feel truly worth it:

“Regional Professional theatre at its very best” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Stage.

The play transfers to Basingstoke and Greenwich, receiving further accolades that take our name into new territories.

“Totally Brilliant… Genuinely funny” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Independent.

Once recovered, RBL decide that welcoming audiences into Reading’s amazing historical buildings is helping change the idea of Reading, but that there is more to be done.

It’s time to write new plays that tell local stories of national significance.

We speak to notables around town about famous events that might make for a good story. Friend of the company, John Luther of South Street Arts Centre, mentions Henry I.

We begin chatting to a promising writer at The Watermill who we have worked with on outreach projects. She’s not written a full length play before, but everyone speaks highly of her, she loves history, is energetic and passionate about engaging younger audiences. She’s called Beth Flintoff and we ask her to write a new play about the founder of Reading Abbey, Reading’s buried king, Henry I.

Our mentoring and education programmes go from strength to strength and a new Saturday school - RBL Foundations - is launched. Funding applications are submitted to help us remove financial barriers for disadvantaged children.

We continue to campaign for Oscar Wilde’s Reading Gaol. Toby visits a relation and finds a book of Notable Historical Trials, in which every word of Oscar Wilde’s three trials is printed.

The creation of Henry I is a phenomenal, joyful experience, with support from the University of Reading History Department, local amateur historians, BBC Radio Berkshire (who have always generously devoted air time to our work) and 54 creative and community partnerships. St James’ Church, which sits immediately beside both Reading Abbey and the prison is booked for the production, thanks to the passionate advocacy of Father John, a keen historian himself. Associate Artist Hal Chambers directs and acclaimed movement director Gareth Taylor joins the company for the first time. Associate electronic composer, Brain Rays, partners with classical composer Rosalind Steele (Twelfth Night), excited and baffled in equal measure by the prospect of merging their styles.

But in the spring of that year, Toby gets a phone call that goes something like this: “The Ministry of Justice have suggested we get in touch with you about an opportunity to perform inside the prison. We at Artangel are staging an exhibition Inside and would like you to perform. Do you have something suitable?”

Having never written a full length play, Beth now finds herself writing two.

The play uses the verbatim text of the trials, but embraces a youthful newspaper seller who welcomes the audience in with the sensational energy of the press at the time. We watch Wilde go from nation’s darling to desperate defendant of “heinous” homosexuality in the very building that destroyed him and at the end of the show the audience are asked to read out their verdict. The court of 2016 weep.

A little more on this experience:

Deep in the Victorian red brick cruciform, inside the Old Chapel, where Wilde was punished for making eye contact (under the solitary system, convicts wore blinkers and were denied any interaction) and with his actual cell door as our only piece of set, the play was staged. We only had four nights available to us and, predictably, they sold out instantly. So we did two shows a night, performing to almost 2,000 people. We invited attendees to wear green carnations - the secret symbol that Wilde embraced. As part of the process, the caretaker of HMP Reading - Sandy Frew - becomes a lifetime friend of RABBLE.

Soon after closing the prison doors, Henry I rehearsals begin. Funded by ACE, the show feels different. Bigger, authentic and true to us. The women in the story are extraordinary and the mentoring programme feels truly meaningful - the mentoring is immense. Three thousand people come to a church in Reading to see a play about a King they’ve never heard of. Half think they’re coming to see a Shakespeare. They leap to their feet at the end and everywhere we go people seem to be talking about our work. We’re featured on the front page of The Guardian for “leading the charge to crown Reading as a cultural hotspot”, win awards and end the year feeling like Reading is becoming what everyone knows it can be.

In between Oscar and Henry, we also remount Twelfth Night for performances at South Hill Park and Hill Meadow’s, Henley on Thames. Whilst the audience responses were lovely, the experience proves that weather can cripple a theatre company even if the clouds hold onto their tears. The experience is a firm reminder of the precariousness of our venture.

Our students work with the inspirational Phil Sarson and Dani on an exceptionally creative adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew which we have always said should be developed. Perhaps one day we’ll find the time. Toby works with Jim Rastall, Hal Chambers, St Joseph’s School and the University of Reading’s English Department to develop Shakespeare Workshops for GCSE students. These are still receiving praise from teachers in schools today. “It was such a terrific workshop: so dynamic and focused, and you got them all engaged and thinking. It really complemented our teaching. All in all, the perfect TIE workshop experience.”

Again with the support of Arts Council England, we produce Matilda the Empress inside St James’ Church, so named because she nicked an old guy’s hand and gave it to Reading. Her story is one of the most inspiring, tragic and astonishing female stories ever heard, but the men wrote the history so she was described as “a difficult woman”. Gender inequality in the workplace, it turns out, is not a new thing. More fuel to the RABBLE fire.

The associate team agree that Dani should take on the role of Matilda, surrounded by a superb company of locals and creative forces from further afield. Our audiences goes beyond 3,000 and the play is voted a Top 20 UK Show in The Guardian, alongside other deeply rewarding reviews and accolades - “Rare to see theatre of this calibre outside of the West End. Exceptional”.

RABBLE perform a truncated version of Henry I called Reading’s Buried King outdoors at The Oracle Shopping Centre. Led by a professional team, the show is supported by a huge community chorus. The moment Henry (Toby) opens his mouth to say the first line, the rain begins to pour with true vengeance. Not a single person leaves as swords clash, the women rage at Henry and, finally, his body is rowed down the river, the banks lined by almost 100 performers. As the last line is spoken, the rain stops.

Driven by a desire to be influenced and “owned” by the people of Reading, we start the process of becoming a registered charity, alongside a new name for the company. There’s only so many times you can explain whether it is Reading or reading.

Get Up On Stage adult acting school is launched, initially as a fun place for grown ups to act but developing into a community where self-confidence is nurtured and community values strengthened. This becomes one of our favourite places and gets endless positive feedback from students such as student & healthcare professional, Surya Enjam “GUOS helps strengthen Reading’s community. It improves confidence, empowers people and gives new skills”.

The sequel to Henry I and Matilda - Henry II - is performed in Reading Minster, with composer Luke Potter creating the haunting, beautiful soundtrack and small preview events taking place in the Abbey ruins and Oracle Shopping centre. Responses are, again, wonderful and our audiences return a few months later for our first Christmas show, A Christmas Carol, written by Anna Wheatley. Puppetry stars as the hilarious and highly imaginative show sells out in South Street Arts Centre.

Our Macbeth inside Reading Minster is described as the “finest production I’ve seen” by an Arts Council England representative, thrilling audiences young and old. Forensic crime scene sheets hanging from the rafters frame the performance space and our female Macbeth damns all in front of her. Soon after, our Hansel and Gretel delights families over the festive season, whilst our education team (well, Dani) drive the growth in the LAMDA department. George (She/Her) joins Dani to help with the admin and develops into a formidable asset to the organisation. Her commitment to keeping our work accessible, as well as well organised, keeps us moving forward.

We partner with schools to deliver after school and holiday activities and grow our Young Company into a safe, creative community for all. Partnerships with community organisations such as Launchpad help us take our confidence and community cohesion workshops to those who need it most. Berkshire Community Fund helps us increase the reach of our access fund, alongside many other funders. Fundraising is a constant but so too is the increase in demand.

The name RABBLE is announced as we become a registered charity. Maintaining our letters RBL, the word evokes thoughts of a mixed group of people, often facing disadvantage and discrimination, coming together to provoke a reaction.

With the outbreak of the COVID pandemic and resulting lockdown, all our education programmes are moved online immediately. Our teachers work with unprecedented imagination to keep students connected to the community and we later receive heartbreakingly generous messages about what our efforts meant to the children and adults.

We produce an online Christmas show and, although people are kind, we decide that’s enough of that. Day one of our tiny rehearsal process, for example, sees the director have to turn back, isolate and direct from a laptop.

Dani successfully applies to ACE for Covid Recovery funding which saves RABBLE. We successfully apply to ACE for The Last Abbot of Reading in Reading Abbey Ruins.

The Last Abbot of Reading is one of the first productions in the UK, post-pandemic. We rehearse in a hotel restaurant and sell every single seat in the Abbey, where the events in the story took place. We have the floor of the Abbey made out of sheets of wood, welcome Joanne Howarth into the company and RABBLE does not see a single covid case on our watch - well done M and team. Our largest community chorus excel and the career development programme is seeing genuine results, with approximately 200 people now having passed through since we began.

We partner with Oxford University’s Big Data institute to explore the creation of a new play called Genomes. Extraordinary and with huge potential for a national audience, but lack of investment leaves us frustrated.

Our education programmes flood back to action, including an education exchange with Reading’s Twin Town, Dusseldorf. Partnership projects resume across the town and we commission a new play about a little known murder mystery story in Reading - Who Killed Alfred Oliver?. We produce the play for Radio with BBC Radio Berkshire in a series of episodes to their audience of 30,000 and plan to stage the show in 2022. What could go wrong?

We connect with living relatives, build new partnerships and prepare for the joyful feeling of producing yet again, this time for the new play about an unsolved murder. Who Killed Alfred Oliver? Is a hilarious, fascinating whodunnit written by our associate, Beth, full of multi-rolling and phenomenal twists.

Long time collaborators Reading Museum and Library support the research of the project, with Reading Train Station and Roseate Hotel helping promote. Playfully directed by associate artist Gareth Taylor, innovatively staged and packed with surprises, our most star-studded VIP Night is set to be one to remember. Two cast members test positive at midday and the show closes. Everything stops. Education goes back online. A tough time for the company.

Radio to the Rescue. RABBLE and BBC Radio Berkshire co-produce a radio play called The Newcomers, which tells the story of the Ugandan Asians who fled Idi Amin. Pragna Hay, one of the victims, is a force behind the project and Bhasker Patel joins the talented cast.

Despite all the covid misery, we see increased growth in our education and outreach department. Hannah Smith joins as administrator but advances over the following two years to Head of Education, excited to build on the identity and opportunities of each programme.

We apply to ACE to restage Henry I, this time inside his ruined Reading Abbey, above where he is buried. The application includes our biggest career development programme, including a partnership with Make Sense Theatre and transfers to The Great Hall, with Theatre Royal Winchester and then to The Actor’s Church, Covent Garden. Brain Rays is joined by local Hollywood-movie sound designer, Gilbert Lake and producer Matthew Linley joins us for the first time, to support with the upscaling. The production is seen by 4,000 in Reading, 1,000 in Winchester and almost as many in London. Alongside Stranger Things, Dominic Cavendish declares Henry I to be one the 5 best he has seen this year in the whole of the UK in The Daily Telegraph. Spy in the Stalls name us UK Regional Production of the Year, Muddy Stiletto’s Best Arts, Theatre & Culture Award and The Offie’s give us a commendation. 5 Star reviews flood in.

“Feminist to its core, placing women at its heart…, exceptional” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Spy In The Stalls. Winner: Regional Production of the Year

The cast includes Georgie Fellows, who was an intern in our 2016 version of the show which is one in a number of gratifying, full circle moments. RABBLE have always insisted on specific inclusion criteria in every production such as 50% female and 33% global majority, but Henry I is the first time we engage a wheelchair user on stage. This proves a pivotal moment for us. Amy is immersed in all movement sequences and fights and has since become a trustee of the charity, guiding us on all things inclusion and representation.

Three years earlier, towards the end of 2021, Elizabeth Conaghan from the School of Law at the University of Reading had sent Dani and Toby an email. She explains how she uses the Horizon Post Office Scandal as a case study in her teaching, focusing on the experiences of a local sub-postmistress called Pam Stubbs. In 2021, she felt that more people should know about the story. Perhaps we might like to discuss a partnership project, creating a play that elaborates on Pam's fight?

By 2024, funding has been achieved from the University of Reading and Arts Council England, enabling us to engage Zannah Kearns to research the play, work with institutions and individuals affected by the story and produce a first draft of the play. The process engages Law and Film Theatre & Television students in a multitude of innovative ways and ends with what we term a “Stage 1’ production. Every seat sells over the ten- day run and we apply to ACE to produce a national tour of the play in 2026.

By now, we are teaching almost 2,000 children, young people and adults annually, with participants aged 8–82. Confidence, creativity and belonging are established as central pillars of every programme. Oversubscribed Holiday Courses led by West End performers seamlessly combine children from fee paying schools with those on funded places. The RABBLE Access Fund has been established for four years, funded by private donations and grant applications, in place to ensure that anyone can access our work.

Henry I’s father is William the Conqueror. He was born in 1027, meaning an international programme of events is being planned to commemorate his impact in 2027. Building on the legacy of our previous history plays, we apply to begin work on what will become part 1 of our Conquerors Trilogy, William the Conqueror. ACE say yes and at the end of the week of R&D, our sharing sells out three times over. School students take advantage of our Open Rehearsal and the process supports even more local aspiring professionals, “As careers lead, it is great to be able to show students the wide variety of roles in creative careers, including management and technology” K Thomson, Reading Girls School, Whitley.

A new programme to celebrate the hidden stories of Whitley launches in Whitley's WCDA Café thanks to funding from UK Skills Development Fund, REDA and Reading Integration Board. Further funding from Reaching Communities gives us the ability to plan for this programme for the next three years.

RABBLE move into an office upstairs in South Street Arts Centre. Finally, we have a place to work that feels dry, rat free and creative. It’s a happy day.

Glitch is performed 51 times in 17 cities nationwide. It is seen by 7,456 people and receives 25 four and five star reviews. The 65% female company garner incredible responses around the UK, most notably from victims of the devastating scandal. Overall the project is deemed a huge success in terms of representing those who are still suffering and keeping the story on the agenda.

Over 2000 people are now participating in our education programmes, 147 supported by the RABBLE Access Fund.
We employ more than 210 freelancers and earn almost 75% of our income. More than 400 artists, technicians and producers have now begun their professional journey through RABBLE's placements, internships, apprenticeships and mentoring.
Many of today's freelance workforce first joined as young participants.

Work on William continues. Région Normandie commits to funding three actors from Normandy, in partnership with In Itinere Collectiv. Visit England, British Council and cross-Channel organisations express significant support of the project and RABBLE submit our application to ACE for the national tour of William the Conqueror as a feature event for 2027, The Year of the Normans. We wait.