The Live Literature Company has formed a number of close links with the community and has worked very extensively within education.

A specialist in Performance Studies, Valerie Doulton co-founded a course 10 years ago for American study abroad students. Nearly all of these students so far have come to study this course in London at Schiller International University from Niagara University, U.S.A.

These photos are of Valerie Doulton with some of these students , the group photo was taken at Niagara University January 2009, they were the 2008 group. The photo to the right was taken with students from an earlier group in London.

Valerie has also worked as a teaching director in many of the leading Drama Schools in this country directing workshop performances of many classic plays, and also full-scale production work and contemporary writing.  

Valerie has worked in the following drama schools, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (where she trained as a director, her mentor there was Nat Brenner), Central School of Speech and Drama, Drama Centre London, Drama Studio London, Guilford School of Acting, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Manchester Polytechnic Theatre School, Webber Douglas, Mountview, Alra, Italia Conti, - a review of her student production of 'Uncle Vanya' directed in Manchester can be seen in the review section.

Currently employed by Birkbeck, London University to teach Public Speaking, Valerie has given speeches on 'Staging Byron' for The International Byron Conference, at The Sorbonne, Paris. On her grandmother Vera Wheatley's book on 'Harriet Martineau' for The Martineau Conference and for Clare College, Cambridge. For Amnesty International's Children's Human Rights Network of which she is a founder member, Val has given speeches on the following issues, Child Soldiers, Street Children and Children in Prison. She has introduced her programmes to the public on numerous occasions.

Valerie has worked for 30 years as a tutor in Drama and Poetry in Adult Education.  Directing work here includes six full-scale Shakespeare and Jacobean productions for John James's Shakespeare Repertory Company at City Lit.

In children's work Valerie opened The Live Literature Company's introduction to Shakespeare in 2008, a project she is hoping to extend further for 2010. For more information in becoming involved in this project, please contact Valerie.

If you are a community organisation, teacher, trainer or educator and would like to discuss an educational visit, activity, workshop or project, Valerie would love to hear from you, please contact us for more information.