Title: Groping for words
Description: First produced at the Croydon Warehouse Theatre in 1983, 'Groping for Words' is a warm comedy about an adult literacy evening class run by a middle-aged and well-meaning woman who knows that tact and respect are required. Unfortunately the only free room is the crèche. For her students, even admitting which class they want to attend is agonising, let alone being confronted with the written word. Townsend records their embarrassment and life-long difficulty with sensitivity and humour, as well as inflecting the play with an indignant condemnation of the society which has abandoned the illiterate.