Most people think of reading aloud as something we do for children. But a recent article on senior living communities reminded me that reading aloud may be just as important for older adults.

The article, “Read Aloud: Therapy for Senior Living Joy!” points to research suggesting that reading aloud strengthens memory, reduces anxiety, improves emotional well-being, and helps combat loneliness. One study cited found that older adults remembered significantly more of what they read when they read it aloud rather than silently. The article also notes that poetry can be particularly powerful, helping to unlock memories and spark imagination.

None of this surprises me. For years, I’ve watched people come together in Shakespeare reading groups. They don’t come because they want a lecture. They come because something special happens when a group of people share language out loud.

A Shakespeare reading group exercises the mind, certainly. Participants follow plots, remember characters, puzzle out unfamiliar words, and make sense of complex ideas. But the benefits go far beyond intellectual stimulation. People laugh together. We discover things together. We build friendships. We find ourselves part of a community.

Many of our readers are retired. Some live alone or have lost spouses or close friends. Yet when we gather around a Shakespeare play, we become part of an ongoing conversation that stretches across centuries. The words come alive in the room—or on Zoom—and so do the people reading them.

The senior-living article describes reading aloud as creating “a bridge between minds, hearts and generations.” Shakespeare reading groups do that every week.

The older I get, the more convinced I become that reading aloud is not a children’s activity that adults outgrow. It is a deeply human activity. We are social creatures. We understand language through voices. We make meaning together.

And perhaps that’s why reading Shakespeare in community feels so good. It isn’t merely literature.

It’s people.