Lisa Harrison 1967 - 2026
Lisa Harrison, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Talking Allowed, very sadly died on January 10th 2026. She and I had worked together for many years before formalising our partnership under Talking Allowed.
Her death leaves a hole in many people’s lives, with just a few examples of her work which tell of a rich and varied creative career. She was an actor with theatre companies such as Foursight and Horse & Bamboo. She later co-founded the Open Arms artists collective in Cheltenham, pioneering different arts programmes with elderly people. For ten years, she was Artist-in-Residence at West Park School in Wolverhampton, creating and delivering unique projects with primary school students and their families. She taught at Wolverhampton, De Montfort and Birmingham Universities, and was a qualified Alexander Technique practitioner. More recently, she worked with refugees and asylum seekers in her new home of Sheffield. Lisa brought an unceasing creativity to all of these roles which, combined with a deep kindness, could warm the coldest of hearts.
What marked her out as a colleague was a dedication to the simple act of being present with people. This lies at the heart of Talking Allowed’s mission. It is a rare quality and Lisa brought it to both her professional and her personal relationships. She worked with care, precision and humour, forever seeking ways to weave the art & craft of the theatre into our work. I will miss our planning sessions, always filled with laughter and always lasting longer than we intended. I will miss her focus on doing the best with whatever task we had to complete. I will miss her warm and gracious presence as a dear friend and professional partner.
As Talking Allowed moves forward, we do so in honour of her commitment to the work and its raison d’etre.
Patrick Morris
Co-Founder, Talking Allowed