Encouraging a love of reading in all it's forms...
If you can read and write, you can do anything
About Us
Hello! We’re Hollie and Vic - two friends who love reading and performing.
We met in 2025 while working on a schools’ tour of a show about The Great Fire of London, and quickly became a dependable duo.
As a partnership we have travelled all over the UK, entertaining and educating KS1 children on the history and legacy of the 1666 fire.
While on our travels we have often given each other reading recommendations - from gender equality essays to crime thrillers and ACOTAR (if you know you know!) and most of our conversations are about dissecting an audiobook or podcast!
In early 2026, motivated by our love of working together and performing in schools, we came up with an idea to run our own company, and Beyond the Book was born!
Away from the stage, Vic has a primary-aged child, and Hollie teaches performing arts skills to 5-18 year-olds. We both noticed a decline in children engaging in reading and thinking creatively. As passionate performers and bookworms, we have set out to try and do something about it!
We want to build on our love of inclusive theatre and allow children to access professional, high-quality and entertaining shows without having to leave the school gates. But we also want to offer something a bit different to what schools usually get.
VICTORIA STURMAN
Favourite childhood book: The Magic Faraway Tree
Favourite book(s) right now: I recently read Weyward by Emilia Hart and loved it. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a big recommendation for me and I think The Handmaids Tale is fantastic. I’m also extremely partial to a bit of Romantascy. Fourth Wing and A Court of Mist and Fury are my favourites!
A book I’d like to read again for the first time: Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell.
Vic is an actor and producer based in Bedford.
Graduating from drama school in 2008, Vic loves being in the acting industry and having the privilege of working with such wonderful people on many different adventures over the years.
Previous stage credits include: Presenter in Exciting Science, UK theatres and P&O Cruises; Alice in Wonderland, Pitch Up Theatre; George Puppeteer in Rainbow, MNJ Productions; The Romans, Trunk Theatre; The Great Fire of London, Trunk Theatre; Maid Marion in Robin Hood, Big Bubble Theatre Company; Wicked Witch in Hansel and Gretal, Market Theatre Hitchen; Shakespeare in Performance Project, Netherlands Tour; Maria in The Nutcracker, PALS Productions; Mum in Off The Level, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre; Princess Aria in Captain Fantastic, Lifebox Theatre.
Vic also has an open air theatre company called Pitch Up Theatre; their debut show Wonderland toured in the summer of 2026, and she will soon appear in the feature film Down The Wooden Hill.
When not performing, Vic can often be found playing Lego, dress up and Barbies with her excited 7 year old. She also facilitates drama workshops in primary schools throughout the UK, loves to dance and run, and has a lovely husband and very excited Cockapoo called Rusty!
HOLLIE CHRISTIAN-BROOKES
Favourite childhood book: Far too many to choose from! Feather Boy by Nicky Singer or any of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques! (Fun fact, I was in the Brian Jacques fan club!)
Favourite book(s) right now: Japanese fiction about cats and/or coffee - the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series is simply stunning. One Day and You Are Here by David Nicholls are heartbreakingly beautiful. Also a big fan of Beth O’Leary and Eve Chase novels.
A book I’d like to read again for the first time: Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
Hollie is an actor, singer, writer and freelance performing arts tutor based in Worcestershire.
A former PR & Marketing professional, Hollie has performed on stage since she could walk, and finally took the plunge to go professional in 2023 following a major health diagnosis.
Previous stage credits include: Exciting Science on P&O Cruises; Poole in Jekyll & Hyde, Grove Theatre Productions; Fairy Virtue in Sleeping Beauty, Swan Theatre Worcester; Narrator/musician in The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Notice This Notice Theatre Company; The Great Fire of London, Trunk Theatre; Dick Whittington & Jack & The Beanstalk, Shooting Star Entertainments; Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island, Notice This Notice Theatre Company; D'Artagnan/Constance in The Three Musketeers, Worcester Repertory Company; and Jen (multirole) in The Three Little Pigs, Worcester Repertory Company.
Hollie has also written original play YAWN, inspired by her experiences of living with the hidden disability ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which in 2025 toured to the Cheltenham Fringe Festival, Lambeth Fringe Festival, and the Mission Theatre Bath. A funding bid to secure additional performances and R&D is currently in the works.
When not performing, Hollie tutors children of all ages in LAMDA examinations and performance skills across the Wyre Forest district and beyond with Wyre Forest Theatre Academy. She also works as a dog walker, and has two cats whom she loves very dearly.
Our favourite book quotes...
"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts, it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely" -
The Twits by Roald Dahl
Get in touch
Interested in making a booking?
If you've got a date in mind and you know how many children you'd like us to perform to, let us know and we can get things moving quickly.
Telephone: Vic: 07806 624628 /Hollie: 07507443167