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For teachers and academics

Whether you’re teaching a new play or looking to further your academic study, you’re in the right place.

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Explore our resources to enhance your teaching or expand your knowledge in your field of study.

In this specialist section for teachers and academics, you can listen to extracts of plays, learn about playwrights in interviews, explore plays in our production database and access teaching resources.

Are your students interested in careers in theatre? Keep an eye out for placements, volunteering opportunities and more from National Theatre (located on the South Bank) and the National Theatre Archive (located next to the Old Vic Theatre on The Cut). 

Want to know even more? Head over to That Black Theatre Podcast to learn more from PhD student Nadine Deller, who interviews everyone from the playwright Winsome Pinnock to Black Theatre scholar Leni Goddard.

Education resource packs

Explore our specially written resources for teachers and educators. Featuring resources for Cuttin’ It by Charlene James and Three Sisters adapted by Inua Ellams.

That Black Theatre Podcast

Expand your knoweldge with That Black Theatre Podcast, hosted by PhD student Nadine Deller exploring all things Black Theatre and its history in the UK.

Spotlight On: Chinonyerem Odimba

Playwright Chinonyerem Odimba.

Playwright Chinonyerem Odimba. Photo © Marc Brenner

Chinonyerem Odimba is a Nigerian British playwright, screenwriter, and poet. She is also the Artistic Director and CEO of tiata fahodzi. Her recent work includes Medea at Bristol Old Vic; We Too Are Giants and The Seven Ages of Patience for Kiln; Unknown Rivers at Hampstead; The Prince and the Pauper at the Watermill; Princess & the Hustler on UK tour for Eclipse, Bristol Old Vic and Hull Truck.  

She is currently working on commissions for Young Vic, RSC, and Paines Plough. She was the inaugural Writer-in-Residence at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2020/2021.

Her work has been shortlisted for several awards including the Adrienne Benham and Alfred Fagon awards. She is the winner of the 2018 Sonia Friedman Award (Channel 4 Playwright Bursary) for a new play, How to Walk on the Moon, and a finalist for the inaugural Women Playwriting Prize 2020 for her play Paradise Street.

Learn more about Chinonyerem Odimba’s plays within the Black Plays Archive.

Play extracts

Explore recordings of contemporary and classic works by Black British playwrights made specially for the Black Plays Archive.

Browse the archive

Search our catalogue of first productions, from 1930 to today, from all over the diaspora.

Spotlight On: Lit in Colour

Lit in Colour campaign image with illustrations of children, books on a yellow backdrop.

Lit in Colour campaign image Image © Penguin Random House.

Lit in Colour was created in 2020 by Penguin Books UK and race equality think tank, The Runnymede Trust. The Black Plays Archive is proud to be involved with the campaign, with many plays from our Archive being considered and involved in diversifying the texts read by students throughout their time at school.

Through Lit in Colour, the aim is to support schools in the UK to make the teaching and learning of English literature more inclusive. This includes commissioning research to better understand barriers and possible solutions, as well as providing practical support including book donations, free teaching resources and more.

Learn more about the  Lit in Colour Campaign and how you can get involved.

Explore interviews

Want to know more about a practitioner? Listen to them in interviews made specifically for the Black Plays Archive.

Explore monologue resources

Students in need an audition monologue? Check out this variety of classic and contemporary pieces by Black writers.

National Theatre Archive

Dive into an exciting world of theatre history inside the National Theatre Archive. Located offsite from the National Theatre on The Cut. This link opens in a new tab.

Academics: Want to discover more?

Already delved into the depths of our archive and still craving more? Why not discover more about Black British theatre history in other archives and texts.

Explore our bibliography, compiled by Dr. Dr. Deirdre Osborne of Goldsmiths, University of London and the George Padmore Institute, Black Cultural Archives and Goldsmiths University’s ‘Future Histories’ Archives for more materials about the plays held here. Let them know we sent you!

George Padmore Institute

Stories of Creativity, Resistance and Resilience. Explore the lives and struggles of Britain’s black communities of Caribbean, African and Asian descent.

The Black Cultural Archives

Explore the histories of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain in the heart of Windrush Square.

Goldsmiths Future Histories

Explore Goldsmith’s University’s Special Collection archive for African, Asian and Caribbean performing arts in the UK