This article analyses approaches to listening when creating theatre using the words of real people via a recent tribunal play by Richard Norton-Taylor and Nicolas Kent, "Value Engineering: Scenes from the Grenfell Inquiry" (2021). The article considers the play in relation to transitional justice practices to reveal how listening…

This paper reasserts the significance and centrality of the body in experiences of learning and assessment in A-level drama. Drawing on data gathered from semi-structured interviews with A-level drama students and teachers, the findings highlight the importance of embodiment in ways of learning in drama education and problematises the impact of…

The power of process drama as a dynamic tool for exploration and learning is well documented. Far less is known about its potency as a qualitative research methodology. This article aims to address that deficit, drawing on lessons learnt from a collaborative project investigating the causes of dental anxiety in children. It argues that process…

Since 1994, the London-based queer performance collective Duckie has produced thousands of events, from its regular Saturday club night to larger-scale immersive themed productions and, more recently, long-running projects working with specific underserved groups. In this edited interview, Duckie's three full-time employees, Simon Casson, Dicky…

Every year since 2007, the Globe Theatre has run the "Playing Shakespeare" project, largely funded by Deutsche Bank. This has three main components: school-based workshops, CPD sessions for teachers and free performances for school students. From 2014 to 2016, we were commissioned to evaluate this project. In what follows, we reflect on…

The main aim of this research was to investigate the impact of reducing the number of components on overall performance in GCSE subjects. In particular, researchers were interested in how the grade achieved by candidates on a reduced number of components compares to their grade on the full qualification. This research mainly looked at GCSEs with…

This paper delves into the intricate realm of Shakespearean characters in love, employing a psychoanalytical lens to unravel the depths of their emotions, desires, and conflicts. Drawing on psychoanalytic theories, particularly those of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, this paper aims to dissect the subconscious motivations and psychological…

The article reports on, and analyses, qualitative research involving children's therapy in two primary school contexts in England. It aims to explore the potentials of how agency as a concept can contribute to a challenge to existing theory, research and ways of working concerning therapy in primary school contexts. The article addresses how this…

This article re-contextualises applied drama practice in the wake of COVID-19, with a particular focus on cognitive diversity. From an inclusive perspective, it asks how encouraging self-expression helps to diversify the still often one-dimensional perception of people with learning disabilities in media reports. It thereby continues an on-going…

This article investigates the teaching of rhetoric as a discrete discipline within the curriculum of Tudor-era English grammar schools (such as the King's New Grammar School in Stratford-Upon-Avon, where William Shakespeare is believed to have been educated). It examines more recent attempts to advocate for the value of rhetoric as a unifying…

This article explores the nature of ethnographic collaboration during the harrowing and unpredictable times of a global pandemic. Documenting Year Two of a five-year, multi-sited ethnographic study, which necessitated virtual fieldwork in global drama classrooms (in Canada, India, Colombia, Taiwan, England, Greece), we offer a theoretical picture…

Educators usually recognise the value of drama-in-education, but hesitate to use it with unpredictable diverse groups that have limited communication and social understanding. This article evaluates a professional development initiative in an all-age special school (3-19 years) in eastern England as a whole-school improvement strategy to promote…

Inspired by academic thinking and practice-based work on creativity and education, and creative approaches in language education, this article is based on outcomes of the project 'Creating Welcoming Learning Environments: Disseminating Arts-Based Approaches to Including All Learners', funded by the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council. The…

In this paper, we report data from the first national survey of secondary Shakespeare teaching in the UK, conducted online in 2017-18 with a sample of 211 teachers distributed through England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We report on what is taught and why. Our survey shows that the most popular play in the UK is "Macbeth,"…

This paper focuses on the professional development of primary school teachers using drama to develop creative writing across the curriculum. Sponsored by the United Kingdom Literacy Association, the two-term project involved four teachers working with theatre educators to use process drama. The collaborative approach was supported by learning…