“But is anyone really “unreachable”? The moon was unreachable until JFK decided it wasn’t. A child is only unreachable if no one cares enough to meet them halfway”
Content warning: the following text contains reference to outdated and problematic medical language
Unreachable is a coming-of-age story about Millie, a 19-year-old leaving special school.
Millie and her mum Lou have a magical encounter with post-war medical pioneer, Dr Mary Sheridan, and discover the history of the long-stay hospitals, the settings where Millie would have very likely lived out her life only a few decades ago.
Dr Mary, a ground-breaking children’s doctor, carried out an inspection tour of the hospitals in the 1960’s in a bid to improve provision for children and get them closed. In this irreverent, uplifting and empowering musical, Millie works with Mary to reach the “unreachables” – a medical term for non-verbal kids in the 1960’s – and build a better future for her today.
Unreachable was originally called Mary and the Matrons, and conceived in response to the “informal inspection reports of Mental Deficiency Hospitals for Children” by Dr Mary Sheridan, stored in the National Archive. The documents – with the names of children blacked out – are a vivid reminder of social history: how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go. The project is a sensitively held process bringing together an award-winning team of disabled and neurodivergent creatives to reframe long-overlooked history through a moving and joyful musical.
“What an incredible and important piece of theatre. The actors were uniformly fantastic, the direction was bang on, the music so uplifting and the writing managed to cover so much with a deftness and warmth. I was very moved and inspired. It’s taken me from a place of knowing the importance of something to feeling it in my bones” – Writer Micha Colombo
“Genuinely so inspiring to see something so brilliant and brave coming out of the South West” – Director Katie Villa
The show was first developed with an integrated cast of actors with and without learning disabilities in 2023. The original cast included Ted Lishman, Victoria Walters, Kerry Norton and Alex Kidder and was directed by Sarah Meadows. The project was supported by Arts Council England, Stage One, HiJinx Theatre and Exeter Northcott, with Paul Wilshaw of Mind the Gap as an associate producer.
You can watch the full performance of Mary and the Matrons here
And listen to some of the tracks here
Unreachable is produced by Naomi Turner and written by Lucy Bell, with an infectious 1960’s soundtrack by Ben Glass and creative direction from Hugh Malyon. The show features Makaton signing supported by the Makaton charity.
In 2025 and 2026 we will be developing the show with a core integrated cast and a larger ensemble cast of performers from the local Learning Disability community. Watch this space for more info…
The next phase has been supported with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Sylvia Waddilove Foundation and The Claire Milne Trust.
