Writers and actors, a chance to get together and read some scenes.

A chance to get together and read a new play. Cold Reads is an opportunity for actors and writers to come together, to read a brand new draft of a script out loud for the first time.
Come along for an opportunity to perform, practice your cold reading skills and feedback on writing, or just listen to a new work by a local writer, whilst networking with other local theatre artists.
Producers, directors and other theatre makers are also welcome to attend. If you do not wish to read there will be an opportunity to ‘opt out’ at the beginning of the session.

Play Synopsis

A Sacred Disease follows sixteen‑year‑old epileptic Bobby Rowe, whose search for a more normal life draws him into the orbit of Art, a charismatic wellness guru convinced he can purge Bobby’s condition through his doctrine, The Three Pillars. As medication fails and the promise of a cure consumes his family, Bobby must confront the forces which have shaped him to transform or find peace, before he loses himself entirely.

 

Cast List

Bobby Rowe :  16, epileptic, Jane’s son

Jane Rowe : 42, Bobby’s mum

Selena Boyd : 16, Bobby’s friend, Art’s daughter and assistant

Artemis Boyd : 51, Selena’s dad, founder of The Three Pillars

Meet the Artist

Dan Lovatt

I am a twenty-nine-year-old playwright from the midlands. Currently, I’m part of the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse’s 2026 Playwrights Programme cohort. Other recent credits include: One for the ROAD (Royal Exchange, 2026), Millennium (R&D, 2025), Toxic (Divided Culture, UK Tour, 2024), The Plot Thickens (Just Some Theatre, UK Tour, 2024) and Daily Bread (Bradford Playhouse & Theatre Royal Wakefield, 2023). In 2024, I was also part of the British Film Institute and Film Hub North Script Lab programme. From 2021-2026, I was the Artistic Director of Divided Culture Company.