smRti

• A śūdra could hear the smṛti-s, itihāsa-s and the purāṇa-s through a brAhmaṇa reader. Some dharmaśāstra-s (eg. śūdrakamalākara, govindarAja) prohibit him from reading it himself.

Certainly there are exceptions - including (quite defensibly) sanxepa-rAmAyaNa.

पठन्द्विजो वागृषभत्वमीयात्स्यात्क्षत्रियो भूमिपतित्वमीयात्। वणिग्जनः पण्यफलत्वमीयाज्जनश्च शूद्रोऽपि महत्त्वमीयात्॥ – वा॰रा॰ १.१.१००

Similarly stotras would not be prohibited, post instruction by v1. They would be judged on a case by case basis, to be conservative.

• There was no prohibition whatsoever on studying and enjoying derivative poetic works in any language including saṃskṛta.
• Several sources point to śūdra-s reading (portions of) the smṛti-s, itihāsa-s and the purāṇa-s.
• Indeed we find several śūdra poets and savants of the classical idiom. There are so many of them that we desist from listing them here, but interested readers may consult resources such as Śatāvdhānī Gaṇeśa’s video here.
• There was no -explicit- prohibition of a śūdra reading the smṛti-s, itihāsa-s and the purāṇa-s himself, if he were capable of doing so (esp. after first listening to it from a v1).