“Bringing letters alive through memorable performances is one of the most powerful ways in which the joy and pain and humor and tragedy of being human can be shared,” says publishing impresario and Canongate Books managing editor Jamie Byng of his latest project, Letters Live, a series of events that sees actors reading from correspondences both widely known and never-before-heard. 

Conceived by Byng over a pint in anticipation of two upcoming publications on the art form – Simon Garfield’s To the Letter and Shaun Usher’s anthology Letters of Note – Letters Live is a timely billet-doux to the increasingly rarified form of communication. 

As the event toured festivals last summer, the standout ‘stars’ of the show emerged in the form of two former postal workers, Chris and Bessie, whose romance was played out via missives sent during World War II, later rediscovered by Garfield during his research and edited into My Dear Bessie, a volume released last month. 

Next week Letters Live heads to London, where Benedict Cumberbatch and his Sherlock co-star Louise Brealey will be reenacting the unsung love story  of Chris and Bessie each night in the Freemasons’ Hall. “[Letters] are the poetry of means of communication,” notes Cumberbatch. “They are windows into the love, beauty, pain and humor of their creators and recipients.”

Letters Live runs from March 31-April 4 at London’s Freemasons’ Hall. Part two of our Letters Live double bill, featuring Louise Brealey, premieres tomorrow.