For Students
Whether you are studying a play, need of an audition monologue or are curious to learn something new, you’re in the right place.
Discover our tailor-made resources for students, inside and outside the classroom.
In this specialist section for students, you can learn about playwrights in interviews, listen to extracts of plays, explore plays in our production database, and find monologues.
Curious about a career in theatre? Find volunteering opportunities, placements and more from the 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 interviews of playwrights like Winsome Pinnock to Black Theatre scholar Lynette Goddard.
Want to know more about a practitioner? Listen to them in interviews made specifically for the Black Plays Archive.
Need an audition monologue? Check out this variety of classic and contemporary pieces by Black writers.
Spotlight On: Inua Ellams
Inua Ellams MBE FRSL is a writer, poet, and curator.
His plays for the National Theatre include Three Sisters (after Chekhov), Barber Shop Chronicles, The 14th Tale, and Black T-Shirt Collection. Other plays include The Half-God of Rainfall (Birmingham Rep, Kiln Theatre, and Fuel), Untitled (Fuel), The Spalding Suite (Fuel, Southbank Centre, and Contact Manchester), Fast Cuts and Snap Shots (Fuel, Oran Mor, and National Theatre of Scotland), Cape (Synergy Theatre Project and Unicorn Theatre), and Turned (Trafalgar Studios).
In 2024, Ellams was awarded Best New Play at the Alfred Fagon Awards for his play Once Upon a Time in Sokoto. His work has been staged across th UK and around the world. His plays Barber Shop Chronicles is a set text for A and AS Level.
Explore the plays of Inua Ellams on the Black Plays Archive.
Playwright Inua Ellams (right) and Director Nadia Fall (left) in rehearsal for Three Sisters (2019) at the National Theatre. Photo ©The Other Richard
Explore That Black Theatre Podcast, hosted by PhD student Nadine Deller focusing on all things Black Theatre and its history in the UK.
Explore audio recordings of plays like Leave Taking, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads and more.
Explore relevant academic essays and articles covering the works of playwrights and theatre-makers from within the Black Plays Archive.
Search our catalogue of first productions, from 1930 to today from all over the diaspora.
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Explore the history of the National Theatre through its archive. Link opens in a new tab.