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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 for young people from the National Theatre (located on the South Bank) and the National Theatre Archive (located next to the Old Vic Theatre on The Cut). Access materials and resources for schools via the National Theatre’s Learning Hub.

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.

A Teacher's Guide to the Black Plays Archive

Discover how the Black Plays Archive can be used in the classroom with this resource for teachers. The resource provides information on how to use the Black Plays Archive for teaching set texts and how its resources can provide additional context to plays and aid in decolonising the curriculum.

 

Explore monologue resources, essays, interviews, play extracts, and more on the Black Plays Archive to assist you in the classroom.

 

Additional teachers guides and education resources can be found on the National Theatre’s Learning Hub.

 

Download the Guide

Three actors in rehearsal.

Education resource packs

Explore our specially written resources for teachers and educators. Featuring resources for Cuttin’ It by Charlene James, Three Sisters adapted by Inua Ellams and seven methods… by Jasmine Lee-Jones (Royal Court Theatre)

That Black Theatre Podcast

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

Spotlight On: Lit in Colour

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

Play extracts

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

Explore interviews

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

Lit in Colour Resources

Q&A: Inua Ellams on Barber Shop Chronicles

In this filmed Q&A, playwright Inua Ellams talks to fellow writer Oladipo Agboluaje about his career as a writer and the process of writing Barber Shop Chronicles. The first in a series of writer Q&As delivered in partnership with Bloomsbury Publishing and the Runnymede Trust as part of the Lit in Colour initiative.

Q&A: Benjamin Zephaniah on Refugee Boy

In this recorded Q&A, the late poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah speaks with Professor Lynette Goddard (Royal Holloway, University of London) about the stage adaptation of his novel, Refugee Boy by Lemn Sissay. This Q&A was delivered in collaboration with Bloomsbury Publishing and the Runnymede Trust as part of the Lit in Colour initiative.

Essays and articles

Explore relevant academic essays and articles covering the works of playwrights and theatre-makers from within the Black Plays Archive. This link opens in a new tab.

Explore monologue resources

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

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 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