Letters Live, an event that began in 2013 in London, attracts personalities from varied fields to perform remarkable letters in front of a live audience. Celebrities including Sir Ian McKellen, Kylie Minogue, Tom Hiddleston and Jude Law have performed letters written by personalities ranging from Gandhiji, Kurt Vonnegut and Charlotte Bronte to David Bowie and Janis Joplin.
Now, with many parts of the world under lockdown, Letters Live has started #ReadALetter campaign with the aim of keeping people across the world connected. The details were read out by actor Benedict Cumberbatch (co-producer of the Letters Live shows).
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So what do you need to do? According to the Letter Live website, just film yourself reading a letter (if camera shy, point the camera at something else while you read such as the letter itself or the view from your window).
Before reading the letter, talk about who it is to and who it is from, and if you can, why you have chosen it. It could be an important letter you have wanted to send or a cherished letter you once received. It could be a favourite letter of yours that offers hope in our current crisis or a prescient warning too important to be ignored. It may simply be a favourite letter of yours that may brighten everyone’s day.
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Post the video to Twitter or Instagram, or other social media with #ReadALetter and tag @letterslive. If you don’t use social media, send the clip to read@letterslive.com and the letter will be shared for you. Spread the word by nominating another person to write a letter.
(If you are not reading your own letter, get the letter writer’s permission first.)