A selection of productions to watch for Drama students, useful for building their experience and understanding of production elements.

1. KS4 & KS5
Drama Enrichment
• Accessing Live Theatre
• Thanks to D Hill for putting this together and sharing it with me
• There is loads here to get involved in, and the final slide contains
tasks that Y11 students may wish to do if they are going on to study
Drama in Y12.

2. Watching Live Theatre
Live Theatre Opportunities
• Studying Drama and watching live theatre helps young people to
understand the world around them.
• Drama students explore a range of different themes and are introduced to
a variety of real and imaginary situations sparking their interest in the
world in which they live.
• Through watching live theatre the audience can be transported to that
faraway place and research has proven that this helps to develop our
empathy, tolerance and understanding.
• Theatre Venues have allowed access to some of their performances during
the closure period.

3. Snow Mouse (The Travelling Light Theatre
Company)
• Although this is Children’s
Theatre and aimed at the under-
fours – Drama students can
study Drama’s theatre as a genre
for creating their own work.
• This is worth watching to see the
strategies that the company use.
• https://vimeo.com/204511734

4. The Wind in the Willows Musical
• Julian Fellowes, George Stiles and
Anthony Drewe teamed up to
deliver a merry new version of
Kenneth Grahame’s classic, staged
at the London Palladium in 2017
with Rufus Hound wearing 50
shades of green as Mr Toad.
• It’s available to stream online for
free, with the option to donate to
help provide financial and
emotional support to theatre
workers.
https://www.willowsmusical.com/

5. First Encounter King Lear
• Another lovely RSC show geared
towards introducing theatre to a
younger audience, this time
taking the tragic story of King
Lear and making it more
accessible and fleet. The perfect
way to kick off a love of theatre.
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?time_continue=18&v=zP_g-
ODJ2SM&feature=emb_title

6. Girls Like That
• London’s Unicorn theatre has a
world-class reputation for theatre
for young audiences and its
production of Evan Placey’s Girls
Like That gripped the roomful of
teenagers I watched it with in
2014. It’s online in full and offers a
raw account of adolescent anxiety,
slut-shaming and self-belief. In-
your-face theatre that stays in your
mind.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Cx2KDNusk9E

7. Gecko Theatre
• Physical theatre pros Gecko have
put a wad of their shows on
YouTube for free, including The
Time of Your Life, a collaboration
with the BBC.
• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=5PQpxi7h_rc

8. Royal Shakespeare Company
I, Cinna
• Tim Crouch is a legend at the
best of times, so seeing his solo
show hosted by the RSC is a
great chance to watch theatre at
its best.
https://www.rsc.org.uk/julius-
caesar/education
• You can also watch his
production of I, Malvolio here.

9. Royal Shakespeare on the BBC
• The BBC has announced further programming for
its "Culture in Quarantine" scheme to run while
arts venues are locked down.
• The company will broadcast six of the RSC's recent
productions on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer:
• Macbeth with Christopher Eccleston and Niamh
Cusack
Othello with Hugh Quarshie in the title role and
Lucian Msamati as Iago
Romeo and Juliet with Bally Gill as Romeo and
Karen Fishwick as Juliet
The Merchant of Venice with Makram J Khoury as
Shylock
Much Ado About Nothing with Edward Bennett as
Benedick and Michelle Terry as Beatrice
Hamlet with Paapa Essiedu in the title role
• They will be on iPlayer from 23 April, Shakespeare's
birthday.

10. Theatre on the BBC
• The BBC will also collaborate with
The Space to present new filmed
recordings of Mike
Bartlett's Albion, Emma Rice's Wise
Children and Battersea Arts
Centre's Frankenstein: How to
Make a Monster, as well as
BalletBoyz's new piece Deluxe. On
top of this, Russell T Davies' TV
version of A Midsummer Night's
Dream and Anthony Hopkins' King
Lear will be repeated.

11. National Theatre
• We’re all about experiencing theatre together ❤
• At a time when many theatre fans around the
world aren’t able to visit National Theatre Live
venues or local theatres, we’re excited to introduce
#NationalTheatreAtHome.
• Every Thursday from 7pm UK time, you will be able
to watch some of the best British theatre from the
comfort of your living room, via YouTube for free
for one week.
• Thank you to all of the amazing artists who have
helped make this happen.
It all kicks off on a Thursday at 7pm UK time.
• One Man Two Guv’nors
• Jane Eyre
• Treasure Island
• Twelfth Night

12. Motionhouse Dance
• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=A9EKjGdwjlY
• Motionhouse have made this
available for free on youtube for
during the lockdown: the full
version of Scattered – see above
link.

13. Kneehigh Workshops
• #KneehighWindows
• The playlist is
here https://www.youtube.com/playlist… so you
can catch up with all the challenges you’ve missed
so far.
• Let your sitting room be your stage. Your kitchen
be your props store. Unclip your imagination and
join our creative club. In the past weeks we’ve
been inspired and moved by the incredible
creativity of those in isolation all around the world.
From shadow puppet shows in Bologna, to mass
singing in Spain, people are harnessing the power
of creativity and bringing connection, hope, and
moments of joy to people stuck inside, all from
their windows. To support our community in the
coming weeks, we invite you to look through our
Windows to the World. We’ll be setting you some
bonkers and brilliant creative challenges over the
next few weeks. From puppet making to poetry,
one of Kneehigh’s talented team will demonstrate
a creative skill and set you a challenge at 9am on
our YouTube channel. Share your results with
#KneehighWindows and we’ll share our favourites.

14. Frantic Assembly Workshops
• 📢 ANNOUNCING: Frantic Digital 📢
Everything shut down pretty quickly last month as the world isolates
to limit the spread of the corona virus, but we wanted to find a way to
continue to connect with our audience and supporters in these
difficult times, wherever you are!
• FRANTIC DIGITAL is our new digital resource exploring our work and
inviting you from wherever you are to get creative and participate and
share your ideas.
• Each week we will use a Frantic Assembly show as a theme and we'll
aim to present
• * A weekly Workout (to keep us all moving)
* A FRANTIC FLASHBACK with Scott Graham talking through the
creation process of the show of the week, using never before seen
content.
* A weekly CREATIVE TASK for you at home to join in with, respond and
share.
* A heap of resources and content around the show and our methods.
• We're also hoping to add to this interviews, discussions and video
content - do bear with us, we're doing our best.
• https://www.franticassembly.co.uk/frantic-digital

15. TASK - As you reflect upon the performances you have
watched consider the following questions –
1. Research the company and look up any theatre reviews of the performance.
2. Read through the aims of the company and discuss whether in your opinion
the piece achieved their intentions. What influenced the creation of the
piece? Is the work in response to something specific?
3. How do you think the social, cultural, historical and political context of the
piece was communicated to the audience? What there a strong political
message? Was the piece socially specific? Do you think the piece has a
specific target audience?
4. Consider the form, structure and performance style of the piece. Identify
key moments? Was the structure of the piece significant to the message of
the piece? Identify significant aspects of the work that you believe was
effective.
5. Have you been inspired by the work? Identify creative ideas that you might
develop for your own performance work in the future