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A first-of-its-kind anthology, Beyond The Canon's Plays for Young
Activists combines plays, toolkits, and an online guide to empower
young people into activism. With award-winning plays from the UK's
most revolutionary female writers of colour, as well as bespoke
multimedia learning guides, this collection offers young global
activists aged 16+, as well as teachers and creatives at any level,
the opportunity to diversify their education and enhance their
understanding of politically driven plays, world politics and
social justice. Unique in how it amplifies these selected
award-winning plays by incorporating learning guides that
accommodate different learning styles (be they visual, auditory,
reading/writing and kinaesthetic), Beyond The Canon dares readers
to take a deeper dive into the world of the play, be inspired by
the themes and provocations and use the anthology to evolve into
the ultimate activist. The plays include: Muhammad Ali and Me by
Mojisola Adebayo A Museum in Baghdad by Hannah Khalil Acceptance by
Amy Ng With resources like top tips on creating a safe space,
practical drama challenges and games, interviews with the writers,
research guides and activism test sheets, Beyond The Canon's Plays
for Young Activists will spark the imagination of any and all
readers, likely inspiring the next Mojisola Adebayo, Hannah Khalil
and Amy Ng.
Each year, the National Theatre commissions ten new plays for young
people to perform, bringing together some of the UK's most exciting
writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. This 2021 pack
captures the two new plays written for the 2021 festival that are
perfect for schools and youth groups to perform and study. Written
with flexibility in mind, these are perfect for exploration both
virtually and in-person, responding to the restrictions in place
due to Covid-19. It also includes National Theatre Connections 2020
anthology which features 9 plays, 8 of which are included in the
2021 festival performances. The plays included in this pack are:
Find a Partner by Miriam Battye Like There's No Tomorrow, created
by the Belgrade Young Company with Justine Themen, Claire Procter
and Liz Mytton Wind / Rush Generation(s) by Mojisola Adebayo
Tuesday by Alison Carr A series of public apologies (in response to
an unfortunate incident in the school lavatories) by John Donnelly
THE IT by Vivienne Franzmann The Marxist in Heaven by Hattie Naylor
Look Up by Andrew Muir Crusaders by Frances Poet Witches Can't Be
Burned by Silva Semerciyan Dungeness by Chris Thompson .
Theatre has a complex history of responding to crises, long before
they happen. Through stage plays, contemporary challenges can be
presented, explored and even foreshadowed in ways that help
audiences understand the world around them. Since the theatre of
the Greeks, audiences have turned to live theatre in order to find
answers in uncertain political, social and economic times, and
through this unique collection questions about This anthology
brings together a collection of 20 scenes from 20 playwrights that
each respond to the world in crisis. Twenty of the world's most
prolific playwrights were asked to select one scene from across
their published work that speaks to the current world situation in
2020. As COVID-19 continues to challenge every aspect of global
life, contemporary theatre has long predicted a world on the edge.
Through these 20 scenes from plays spanning from 1980 to 2020, we
see how theatre and art has the capacity to respond, comment on and
grapple with global challenges that in turn speak to the current
time in which we are living. Each scene, chosen by the writer, is
prefaced by an interview in which they discuss their process, their
reason for selection and how their work reflects both the past and
the present. From the political plays of Lucy Prebble and James
Graham to the polemics of Philip Ridley and Tim Crouch. From bold
works by Inua Ellams, Morgan Lloyd Malcom and Tanika Gupta to the
social relevance of Hannah Khalil, Zoe Cooper and Simon Stephens
this anthology looks at theatre in the present and asks the
question: "how can theatre respond to a world in crisis?" The
collection is prefaced by an introduction from Edward Bond, one of
contemporary theatre's most prolific dramatists.
A bold play collection representing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans,
Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) experiences, from Black British
perspectives, this anthology contains seven radical plays by Black
writers that change the face of theatre in Britain. With an
international reach connecting Africa, the Caribbean and the
Diaspora, these plays address themes including same-sex love, sex,
homophobia, apartheid, migration and space travel. The collection
captures the historical scope and range of Black British LGBTIQ+
theatre, from the 1980s to 2021. Including a range of forms, from
monologue to musicals, realist drama to club-performance, readers
will journey through the development of Black Queer theatre in
Britain. Through a helpful critical introduction, this book
provides important socio-political and historical context,
highlighting and illuminating key themes in the plays. Each play is
preceded by an intergenerational 'in-conversation' piece between
two Black British LGBTIQ+ artists and writers who will talk about
their own work in relation to the play, looking back at the history
and on into the future. Through these rare conversations with
highly acclaimed award-winning practitioners, readers will also
gain an insight into the theatre industry, funding, producing,
venues as well as the politics of identity, the diversity of
LGBTIQ+ lives and the richness of Black British cultures.
National Theatre Connections is an annual festival which brings new
plays for young people to schools and youth theatres across the UK
and Ireland. Commissioning exciting work from leading playwrights,
the festival exposes actors aged 13-19 to the world of professional
theatre-making, giving them full control of a theatrical production
- from costume and set design to stage management and marketing
campaigns. NT Connections have published over 150 original plays
and regularly works with 500 theatre companies and 10,000 young
people each year. This anthology brings together 9 new plays by
some of the UK's most prolific and current writers and artists
alongside notes on each of the texts exploring performance for
schools and youth groups. Wind / Rush Generation(s) by Mojisola
Adebayo This is a play about the British Isles, its past and its
present. Set in a senior common room, in a prominent university, a
group of 1st year undergraduates are troubled, not by the weight of
their workload, but by a 'noisy' ghost. So they do what any group
self-respecting and intelligent university students would do in
such a situation - they get out the Ouija Board to confront their
spiritual irritant and lay them to rest - only to be confronted by
the full weight of Britain's colonial past - in all its gory glory.
Fusing naturalism, with physical theatre, spoken-word, absurdism,
poetry and direct address - this is event-theatre that whips along
with the grace, pace and hypnotic magnetism of a hurricane. Tuesday
by Alison Carr Tuesday is light, playful and nuanced in tone. And a
little bit sci-fi. The play centres on an ordinary Tuesday that
suddenly turns very weird indeed when a tear rips across the sky
over the school yard. The play touches on themes of friendship,
sibling love, family, identity, grief, bullying, loneliness and
responsibility. And in the process we might just learn something
about ourselves as well as some astronomical theories of the
multiverse! A series of public apologies (in response to an
unfortunate incident in the school lavatories) by John Donnelly
This satirical play is heightened in its naturalism, in its
seriousness, in its parody and piercing in its interrogation of how
our attempts to define ourselves in public are shaped by the fear
of saying the wrong thing. Presented quite literally as a series of
public apologies this play is spacious, flexible and welcoming of
inventive and imaginative interpretation as each iteration spirals
inevitably to its absurdist core. This is a play on words, on
convention, on manners, on institutions, on order, online and on
point. THE IT by Vivienne Franzmann THE IT is a play about a
teenage girl who has something growing inside her. She doesn't know
what it is, but she knows it's not a baby. It expands in her body.
It starts in her stomach, but quickly outgrows that, until
eventually ittakes over the entirety of her insides. It has claws.
She feels them. Presented in the style of a direct to camera
documentary, this is a darkly comic state of the nation play
exploring adolescent mental health and the rage within, written
very specifically for today. The Marxist in Heaven by Hattie Naylor
The Marxist in Heaven is a play that does exactly what its title
page says it's going to do. The eponymous protagonist 'wakes up' in
paradise and once they get over the shock of this fundamental
contradiction of everything they believe in.....they get straight
back to work....and continue their lifelong struggle for equality
and fairness for all....even in death. Funny, playful, provocative,
pertinent and jam-packed with discourse, disputes, deities and
disco dancing by the bucketful, this upbeat buoyant allegory shines
its holy light on globalization and asks the salient questions -
who are we and what are we doing to ourselves?.....and what
conditioner do you use on your hair? Look Up by Andrew Muir Look Up
plunges us into a world free from adult intervention, supervision
and protection. It's about seeking the truth for yourself and
finding the space to find and be yourself. Nine young people are
creating new rules for what they hope will be a new and brighter
future full of hope in a world in which they can trust again. Each
one of them is unique, original and defiantly individual, break
into an abandoned building and set about claiming the space,
because that is what they do. They have rituals, they have rules,
together they are a tribe, they have faith in themselves....and
nothing and no one else. They are the future, unless the real world
catches up with them and then all they can hope for is that they
don't crash and burn like the adults they ran away from in the
first place. Crusaders by Frances Poet A group of teens gather to
take their French exam but none of them will step into the exam
hall. Because Kyle has had a vision and he'll use anything, even
miracles, to ensure his classmates accompany him. Together they
have just seven days to save themselves, save the world and be the
future. And Kyle is not the only one who has had the dream. All
across the globe, from Azerbaijan to Zambia, children are dreaming
and urging their peers to follow them to the promised land. Who
will follow? Who will lead? Who will make it? Witches Can't Be
Burned by Silva Semerciyan St. Paul's have won the schools Playfest
competition, three years in a row, by selecting recognised classics
from the canon and producing them at an exceptionally high level,
it's a tried and trusted formula. With straight A's student and
drama freak, Anuka cast as Abigail Williams in The Crucible by
Arthur Miller, the school seem to be well on course for another
triumph, which would be a record. However, as rehearsals gain
momentum, Anuka has an epiphany. An experience resulting in her
asking searching questions surrounding the text, the depiction and
perception of female characters, the meaning of loyalty, and the
values and traditions underpinning the very foundations of the
school. Thus, the scene is set for a confrontation of epic
proportions as Anuka seeks to break with tradition, before
tradition breaks her and all young women like her and reality
begins to take on the ominous hue of Miller's fictionalized Salem.
Dungeness by Chris Thompson . In a remote part of the UK, where
nothing ever happens, a group of teenagers share a safe house for
LGBT+ young people. While their shared home welcomes difference, it
can be tricky for self-appointed group leader Birdie to keep the
peace. The group must decide how they want to commemorate an attack
that happened to LGBT+ people, in a country far away. How do you
take to the streets and protest if you're not ready to tell the
world who you are? If you're invisible, does your voice still
count? A play about love, commemoration and protest.
Includes the plays Moj of the Antarctic, Desert Boy, Matt Henson:
North Star and Muhammad Ali and Me This collection signals the
emergence of a distinctive new voice on the British theatre
landscape. Moj of the Antarctic is inspired by the true story of an
African American woman who cross-dresses as a white man to escape
slavery; taken on a fantastical odyssey to Antarctica. Time Out
Critics' Choice 'The language is rich and densely poetic. Reveling
in the materiality and playfulness of words, cracking open complex
ideas like eggshells.' - Total Theatre Magazine Muhammad Ali and Me
is a lyrical coming of age story, following the parallel struggles
of a gay girl child growing up in foster care and the black Muslim
boxing hero's fight against racism and the Vietnam war. 'As a piece
of stagecraft, an entertaining kaleidoscope of social and political
history, only one description will do: this is a play that
'floatslike a butterfly and stings like a bee.' - WhatsOnStage
Desert Boy, a time-travelling a capella musical, offers a sharp
twist on the subject of knife crime, black youth and absent
fathers. '...a spiralling journey through colonial history not
unlike Dante's introduction to the Inferno. The juxtapositions are
sometimes startling, and often quite comic.' - Guardian Matt
Henson, North Star is a biographical tale of Arctic betrayal, mixed
with Greenlandic folk tales; all about love, climate and change.
These plays queer the boundaries of sex and race, fact and fiction,
history and geography, poetry and politics to illuminate
contemporary themes through a dynamic African Diasporic theatrical
aesthetic that leaps off the page.
A bold play collection representing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans,
Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) experiences, from Black British
perspectives, this anthology contains seven radical plays by Black
writers that change the face of theatre in Britain. With an
international reach connecting Africa, the Caribbean and the
Diaspora, these plays address themes including same-sex love, sex,
homophobia, apartheid, migration and space travel. The collection
captures the historical scope and range of Black British LGBTIQ+
theatre, from the 1980s to 2021. Including a range of forms, from
monologue to musicals, realist drama to club-performance, readers
will journey through the development of Black Queer theatre in
Britain. Through a helpful critical introduction, this book
provides important socio-political and historical context,
highlighting and illuminating key themes in the plays. Each play is
preceded by an intergenerational 'in-conversation' piece between
two Black British LGBTIQ+ artists and writers who will talk about
their own work in relation to the play, looking back at the history
and on into the future. Through these rare conversations with
highly acclaimed award-winning practitioners, readers will also
gain an insight into the theatre industry, funding, producing,
venues as well as the politics of identity, the diversity of
LGBTIQ+ lives and the richness of Black British cultures.
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