Over 200 ideas for teachers to develop creative school shows and productions from original devised drama as a challenging change from using published scripts. This is the Introduction to the whole resource. There are 12 further focused sections. It is mainly aimed at Key Stages 3, 4 and 5, but some of the projects could adapt for KS2.

Teachers - students are back from half term or starting Y10 or Y11 and you just want a one-off 60 minute easy lesson to get the creative juices flowing again – yours as well as theirs. Learning Objective: To learn or revise how to mark a dramatic moment using a variety of drama devices

In Section 9 (of 12), the material is geared to two different practitioners’ styles as a way into turning devising into performance in a particular vein.

In Section 11 of 12, the idea of using a message to inspire the devising and then the performance is explored. What do we want to say to our audience? How then do we say it?

Devising Starts 101 ideas for starting devising or for warm-ups for Key Stage 2, 3 or 4. A series of starters around everyday things, to start students devising with suggestions for developing ideas further. Just one cake, just one headache, just one confession, for instance. Just one word kick starts great warm ups which may well evolve into full lessons all the time developing secondary devising skills.

This is Section 1 of the full resource. How to get excited and get started on devising drama for public performance.

Section 7 of 12 in total, this one demonstrates how some literature, a TV show or a film can inspire devised work, some of it integrated arts , that leads to effective public performance across the full range of emotions and characterisation.

The trio of 3 free-standing lessons aimed at KS3 and KS4 offers teachers angles and ways into encouraging the development of credible and sustainable characters who develop through stress, pressure and life’s experiences through the progress of the play or devised work. There are grids for dice thrown options of who, where, when, why and what happens, plus grids of ideas for shades of character development and a stress grid all of which build to show students how complex people/characters are.

The 12th and final section of this resource. This one suggests a ground-breaking idea which may prove quite controversial and certainly will be challenging. It should spark off ideas that do not fit the norm. There are also dozens of ‘drama teacher block’ breaking ideas and 101+ ideas to start devising off.

This is Section 2, Using (local) history, of the 12 total sections. This offers ideas for using your own or others’ history to devise compelling, relevant drama for performance.

Section 5 is about using traditions, some of theatre and some from other fields, to make teenage driven drama into successful public performances.

Section 8 (of 12) focuses on the drama essential of making stories from characters and worrying about plot after they have been established. Comedy or serious, this is also usable as a drama lesson resource.

Devising Starts 101 ideas for starting devising or for warm-ups for Key Stage 2, 3 or 4. A series of starters around everyday things to start devising with suggestions for developing ideas further. Just one cake, just one headache or just one confession are three such from a packed resource of 101 quick ideas to get students started on devising. The ideas stand alone for 15 minutes or could be the basis for a full hour’s lesson. The important thing is to get into the improvisation quickly, in groups and using imaginations to the full.

Using a range of ideas from different genres - soap to circus and sci-fi to medieval miracle story - this is Section 10 which focuses on ideas first, content second and arising from the ideas.

This is Section 3 of 12 and it’s about using ideas and material from the ever-intriguing 1960s, popular with teenagers, parents and grandparents alike.

This is Section 6 of 12, using the generations and exploiting how different age groups relate and interact to make public performance that is often funny, sometimes tragic with every emotion in between.

Using teenage angst - a rich and readily available resource in schools in general and drama in particular. This is Section 4 of 12, identifying how to harness teenage issues into compelling performances.