This 27-slide lesson serves as the perfect introduction to J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’, establishing the key context and background to the play. The lesson features information about Priestley’s life and views, capitalism, socialism, important historical dates, and pre-war and post-war context. The play’s key themes and ideas are explored, and tasks and discussion points are included throughout. At the end of the lesson is an extended writing task that could serve either as a class-based activity or homework task. This lesson is aimed primarily at GCSE students but could be used for KS3 too. PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson provides a comprehensive contextual introduction to Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Posing questions to students about young love, marriage, passion, and stereotypes, the lesson introduces key themes and ideas related to Shakespeare’s iconic tale of doomed romance. The genre of tragedy is considered, as are typical elements of romance. We look at Shakespeare’s life and work, and examine a series of posters for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to see how the play is commonly presented in the cultural imagination. Important historical and theatrical context is explained, and key terminology is introduced to allow students to produce sophisticated analysis. Questions and discussion points are featured throughout, and there is a research task at the end of the lesson. Also included is a series of films inspired by ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to facilitate conversations around the play’s cultural impact. PowerPoint saved as PDF. Also included is a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ word-search.

This 30-slide exploration of the Witches in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ makes for a comprehensive and detailed revision lesson. The lesson includes key context, as well as focus on the Witches’ language, appearance, and function in the play. Links are made to wider themes (including gender and the supernatural), and questions and tasks are included for pupils throughout. Students are encouraged to deconstruct historical depictions of witches and witchcraft - particularly with reference to misogyny - while considering how Shakespeare exploits/subverts stereotypes. The lesson ends with a practice essay question, which is ideal for those studying the play at GCSE (especially those studying with AQA). PowerPoint is saved as PDF.

Perfect for stretch and challenge, this 24-slide lesson considers how Priestley was influenced by various theories of time when writing ‘An Inspector Calls’. The ideas of P.D. Ouspensky and J.W. Dunne are explored here, as well as questions about the nature of the Inspector’s curious relationship with time and how the significance of time is emphasised throughout the play. Stephen Daldry’s 1992 production of the play is considered in view of time theories, and the play’s key characters and stagecraft are analysed in terms of their relationship with time. Frequent questions and discussion points are included for students, and the lesson ends with an extended essay question on Priestley’s use of time. The resource is included in two versions here: as a PDF with saved fonts and formatting, and the original PowerPoint file so that the resource can be edited.

This 28-slide lesson introduces the background and context of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. We begin with a series of posters, asking students to ‘judge a book by its cover’ and guess what the play might be about based on the images. We then dissect the play’s title, thinking about dreams, midsummer, and madness. Students are introduced to Shakespeare’s life and work before delving into the genre of comedy and its recurring features. Life in Shakespeare’s England - particularly for women - is discussed. We read and watch a summary of the play before considering the significance of the play’s setting. In addition, students explore some famous paintings inspired by the play in order to further discuss what the play might be about. Key themes and ideas about love and transformation are explored. Students are then given some ambitious vocabulary to define, using a dictionary (online or otherwise). Common attributes of Shakespeare’s stagecraft are explained, while images from the play onstage and on film are presented. The lesson ends with a research task inspired by Shakespeare’s theatre. This lesson is ideal for students aged 11-14. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson explores the context of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. The lesson considers how European colonialism and the Age of Discovery influenced and impacted Shakespeare’s writing. Students are provided with an in-depth discussion of European colonial expansion in the Renaissance, including information on the Jamestown settlement and common artistic depictions of Indigenous Americans in Shakespeare’s lifetime. We think about how ‘The Tempest’ can be read as a product of the search for the ‘New World’. Shakespeare’s potential sources for this tragi-comic play are explored. Key words and themes are also presented, and the plot is outlined. We think about some of Shakespeare’s dramatic structure and stagecraft in the play, leading some critics to align Prospero with the playwright himself. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This lesson could be used as a comprehensive introduction for pupils studying the play anywhere from high-attaining KS3 to A level. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 30-slide lesson offers the perfect introduction to the context of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. In the lesson, students explore Jacobean ideas of Kingship, looking closely at the reign of James I, the Divine Right and Great Chain of Being, and the atmosphere created by the Gunpowder Plot. We then look at Renaissance and Medieval ideas of gender (especially on the stage) and Aristotle’s rules for tragedy. The play’s key themes and ideas are explored, and students are encouraged to reflect on power and its relationship to corruption and even tyranny. Important vocabulary is explained, and students are tasked with researching other key words and ideas. Questions, discussion points and tasks are included for students. Also included in this resource is a copy of James I’s speech to Parliament in 1610 for the purpose of analysing the King’s attitudes to his Divine Right. Ideal for students reading the play at GCSE or upper-KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 27-slide lesson explores the context of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’. In the lesson, students learn about Shakespeare and his sources for the play; why the Venetian setting is significant; some background to the Venetian-Ottoman conflicts; and the various historical connotations of the term ‘Moor’. We look at various images from ‘Othello’ - posters and stills from notable productions - to consider what the play might be about. The play’s genre as a tragedy is discussed, as are its key themes and the crucial recurring image of ‘jealousy’. Important (and high-level) vocabulary is also outlined. Questions, tasks, and discussion points are included for students. A research task/homework is featured at the end of the lesson. This lesson is an ideal introduction for GCSE or A level study of the text. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 20-slide lesson provides a comprehensive introduction to Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’. Detailed notes are included on McCarthyism, the Cold War, the Red Scare, and the Salem Witch Trials. Important vocabulary is explained and several tasks/questions for students are included. This lesson is ideal for GCSE pupils, and could be easily adapted for KS3. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This lesson is a sophisticated and thorough introduction to the context and key ideas behind Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’. This 23-slide PowerPoint lesson is perfect for those studying the play as part of AQA’s Political and Social Protest Writing course at A level, but easily adaptable to other A level courses (including Theatre Studies) too. The lesson includes biographical information about Ibsen, an explanation of Norway’s social history in the 19th century (with particular focus on the rights of women), and an introduction to the key themes and ideas in ‘A Doll’s House’. Questions and tasks are also featured for students. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 26-slide lesson provides a comprehensive introduction to the context and comedy of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. The lesson features information on Wilde’s life and literary career and on Victorian contexts of gender, sexuality, and morality. The genre of comedy is considered in detail, and the key themes, characters, and conventions of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ are outlined. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are included for students. This lesson would work particularly well for those teaching Wilde on AQA’s Aspects of Comedy paper for English Literature A level, but is still useful for those exploring the play for other courses. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 20-slide PowerPoint is an introductory lesson on the context of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’, aimed primarily at A level students (particularly those studying the genre of comedy). The lesson contains information on Shakespeare, Commedia dell’Arte, Elizabethan acting, Illyria in context, religious satire, and more. Questions and tasks are featured for students, including a potential homework task. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This is a thorough and comprehensive introduction to the context of Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’. The 21-slide lesson details Caesar’s life and role in the Roman Republic, outlining key terminology, politics, and history that will help explain his downfall. Shakespeare’s own life is also explored alongside the plot and focus of the play itself, and Elizabethan parallels with the play’s themes are explained. Questions and tasks are included for pupils, including a research (potential homework) task at the end of the lesson. The lesson is ideal for GCSE pupils, but could easily be adapted for other Key Stages. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 28-slide lesson explores the themes of duality and double-lives in Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. The lesson encourages students to think about the numerous binaries and dualities throughout Wilde’s play, and how these relate to the idea of ‘earnestness’ that the play satirises. Sophisticated vocabulary is provided to help students with their analysis. Students are presented with important literary and historical context, including Wilde’s own ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ and Stevenson’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, plus examples of real-life late-Victorian scandals which fed into and fuelled fin de siecle interests in the duality of man. We also explore dualities in Wilde’s own life. The lesson considers how deception plays into the play’s key themes, and explores Wilde’s literary preoccupation with ‘masks’. Key quotations from the play (linked to duality or double-lives) are considered throughout the lesson, and each of the key characters are dissected. Discussion points and questions are featured throughout. This lesson is ideal for A-level (age 16+) study of the text. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

These 25 posters - featuring words of wisdom from 24 of Shakespeare’s plays - make for an inspiring, educational and visually stunning display in your classroom and corridor.

This 21-slide lesson introduces students to the key context of Alan Bennett’s ‘The History Boys’. The lesson provides an introduction to Bennett’s career, Oxbridge, Thatcherism and New Labour, as well as the key themes and ideas of the play. Students consider what makes a good teacher, and learn critical vocabulary linked to the play. The role and significance of ‘history’ is also debated, while New Labour’s focus on ‘spin’ is explained in view of its relevance to the play. Theatre reviews of notable productions of ‘The History Boys’ are also included for discussion. Questions, discussion points, and tasks are featured throughout for students. This resource is ideal for those studying the play at GCSE or A level. PowerPoint saved as pdf.

This 24-slide lesson explores the character of Lady Bracknell from Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. Wilde’s presentation of Lady Bracknell is thoroughly deconstructed, with students asked to consider her theatrical heritage via Greek stock characters and the Comedy of Manners. We debate to what extent Lady Bracknell can be called the play’s ‘antagonist’, and how Wilde uses her to catalyse key events or provide comical obstacles in the play. Wilde’s structural use of Lady Bracknell is analysed, and important quotations from her and relating to her are dissected. We think about what we can learn from the stage directions about Lady Bracknell, and discuss how Wilde uses the offstage character of Lord Bracknell to inform Lady Bracknell’s character. We consider Lady Bracknell in the context of the ‘New Woman’ and students are provided with key vocabulary that might be used to analyse Lady Bracknell. Modern theatrical interpretations (including gender inversions) of Lady Bracknell are discussed. Students are also encouraged to think critically about how Lady Bracknell interacts with props and how Wilde positions her at the end of the play. Questions and discussion points are provided for students throughout the lesson. An exam-style essay question is featured at the end. Exemplar sentences and sentence openers are provided for students to enable sophisticated analysis, including purposeful introductions to extended essays. This lesson is ideal for high-level analysis of Lady Bracknell. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This 31-slide lesson explores the context behind Tennessee Williams’ classic play, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Designed to introduce students to key ideas essential to understanding the play’s historical and literary background, this lesson features discussions around key vocabulary, themes and techniques relevant to Williams’ theatrical vision. Students think critically about stagecraft and theatrical technique before learning about expressionism and the Deep South of the early 20th century (including an exploration of what is meant by a ‘Southern Belle’). There are further discussions of tragedy, the American Dream, post-war masculinity, homophobia, and psychiatry of the 1940s. The play’s key themes are outlined before students are given some examples of sophisticated vocabulary to enable precise analysis of the play. Questions, images and discussion points are included throughout the lesson. A research task is included at the end. This lesson is saved both as a PDF (to retain original design) and editable PowerPoint.

This 35-slide lesson explores the role of women in Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’. Perfect for high-attaining students, this lesson analyses how female characters are presented in the tragedy, exploring the roles of Desdemona, Emilia, Bianca and others in light of the play’s themes and Jacobean context. We consider how various female characters are presented in the play, thinking about how female transgression and disobedience threatens the patriarchal authority of the male characters, and the tragedy that ensues. Fidelity, cuckoldry, and duplicity are explored, as are the roles of key props, such as the handkerchief. Directorial choices and how these might impact our interpretations of female characters are discussed. Misogynistic language and masculine violence is also debated, while the private and public personalities of characters are deconstructed. Students are equipped with ambitious vocabulary to facilitate sophisticated analysis of Shakespeare’s characters. Questions and discussion points are included throughout for students. We consider Shakespeare’s messages and intentions, and students are provided with fascinating critical opinions from academics on the female characters of the play. This is an ideal resource for revising this key element of the play. PowerPoint saved as PDF.

This top-band essay on Priestley’s presentation of Sheila in ‘An Inspector Calls’ is an excellent exemplar for students. At the end of the essay is a highlighting key for students to unpick the essay’s techniques and structure, allowing for detailed discussion of the exemplar in class. This resource is particularly useful for challenging HA pupils to reach the top bands.