ACTORS brought verse to life in a special dramatised reading organised by the Ver Poets group.

Members of the Company of Ten were joined by award-winning poet Daphne Gloag to read from her book Beginnings, which not only describes her close relationship with her late husband before his death six years ago, but also takes in the story of the creation and development of the universe.

The event took place at St Michael’s Church hall in St Albans, and Ver Poets spokesman Simon Bowden explained: “We thought that by using actors from the local Company of Ten we could get this magnificent piece of writing across to a wider audience.”

Author Daphne said: “I felt very much at home reading with the help of the two actors from my new book. The length of the reading meant that the long poem could unfold in a coherent way and bring its story to life, with the three of us relating to the poem and to each other.”

Ver Poets committee member Greg Smith said: “Dramatising the poems by having three different readers greatly enhanced them. Daphne’s personal recollections of her husband became located in a cosmic context that transcended life and death. The scientist’s narration described the birth and lifecycle of stars that ran parallel to the events in the relationship.”

The next meeting of Ver Poets will be at St Michael’s on Friday October 18 at 8pm and devoted to rhyming poetry.