We help communities:
create theatre together by removing barriers to collaboration,
preserving everything that makes traditional theatre-making special,
and creating a lasting creative legacy for future productions
Welcome to The Reading Miner Arts Community
The Reading Miner Arts Community is a new creative initiative inspired by the remarkable true story of Sydney Chown Quick, a young man from Reading whose courage and sacrifice during the Second World War has largely been forgotten.
The Reading Miner Arts Community is developing a new stage production inspired by the true story of Sydney Quick. Alongside the play, we’re exploring how digital collaboration can support theatre-making and wider community arts participation.
The project is now moving from research into action. Over the past year, conversations have begun with local theatres, museums, artists, musicians, historians, community organisations and educators in Reading, while new connections are also being developed in South Wales.
Our ambition is to build a lasting creative partnership between the two communities through theatre, music, visual art, poetry, history and shared storytelling.
This website is where that journey begins.
As the project develops, you’ll be able to follow its progress, discover new stories, meet the people becoming involved and, if you’d like, contribute your own skills, memories and ideas.
Whether you’re an artist, performer, historian, volunteer or simply someone who believes that forgotten stories still have the power to inspire, we’d love you to join us.
Why Reading and South Wales?
The relationship between Reading and South Wales stretches far beyond Sydney Quick’s story.
During the Second World War, young men from Reading travelled to the coalfields of South Wales as volunteers and conscripts to help maintain the nation’s coal supplies. Their work, though largely unseen, played a vital role in Britain’s war effort.
Decades later, during the mining industry disputes of the 1980s, communities in Reading again built links with South Wales through miners’ support groups, fundraising and acts of solidarity.
Today, The Reading Miner Arts Community is building on those historical connections in a new way.
Rather than looking only to the past, the project seeks to create new partnerships between the two regions through theatre, music, visual art, poetry, exhibitions, education and community events.
History becomes the foundation for new creativity.