Learning Outcomes These resources are designed to continue to embed ideas and dramatic techniques explored in Layla’s Room by Sabrina Mahfouz and assist them in applying these ideas to their own work. Summary Students will have the opportunity to develop their skills in numerous areas within the Drama curriculum. The plans aim to enable students to explore the representation of women in the media, devise scenes based on stimuli, work with an extract of text and to write a review. These session plans may be adapted or combined to suit the needs of your pupils. Extracts of the script are included and the full play text is available direct from the Theatre Centre website. Layla’s Room by Sabrina Mahfouz Respect women, respect girls. Respect yourselves. Remember you are everyone who’s gone before you and you are nobody that has ever been, so make it count, make it special, make a difference, make people listen, love the women who have loved you and watch us make the world move to a better place. For Layla, every day is a battleground. The pay gap, the thigh gap, over-sexed pop and selfies that are photoshopped – they’re just part of the world she lives in. But that world is about to change. While breaking out of her bedroom – and with drama, comedy, poetry and music as her weapons – Layla breaks down and makes sense of the realities, difficulties and absurdities of teenage life in the UK today. Collected from a bespoke national survey, the voices of a thousand UK teens are brought to life in Layla. Their ambitions, concerns, role-models and regrets are woven together by award-winning Sabrina Mahfouz and theatre company Theatre Centre, offering a hard-hitting, yet hopeful, story. Layla’s Room received its world premiere at Redbridge Drama Centre on 15 September 2016 in a production by Theatre Centre. It is ideal for students and young performers between 16 and 18 years old.

Learning Outcomes Students will explore Characters, Themes, Brecht and Epic Theatre Devices and Devising techniques. The Border by Afsanah Gray The Border is a high energy, outrageous Brechtian parable that explores the lines we draw between ourselves and other people, and the absurdities of borders. Life is turned upside down in one small town as East Oolia shuts the border with West Oolia, dividing here from there, us from them, this from that despite all the fruit tasting the same. In the midst of it all, Stranger, a young girl’s beloved dog, has gone missing. Will Stranger be found before the border closes, or will she be trapped forever on the “wrong” side? With rumours of dog theft and whispers of runaway immigration, how far will the mayor dare to go in her fight for re-election? Does the refugee boy hold the clue to Stranger’s disappearance? These lessons contain extracts and the entire play can be purchased online directly from Theatre Centre.

Learning outcomes These resources are designed to continue to embed ideas and dramatic techniques explored in The Muddy Choir into the student‟s learning and assist them in applying these ideas to their own work. Extracts of the play included with the lesson plans and individual or class sets of the full text can be purchased directly from the Theatre Centre website. The Play Nominated for Best New Play for Young Audiences, Muddy Choir (Age 13+) by Jesse Britton, tells the story of three soldiers serving with the Durham Light Infantry. Including traditional wartime songs, the play is about childhood friends growing up in unbearable circumstances and the humanising power of music. Summary of Lessons Students will have the opportunity to develop their skills in numerous areas within the Drama curriculum. The plans focus on developing skills in improvisation, character development, the use of song within narrative development, strategies for devising, character status and children’s learning across a variety of areas including literacy. These session plans may be adapted or combined to suit the needs of your pupils.

This resource contains access to the digital play and the first two PSHE lessons that explore the play Birds & Bees by Charlie Josphine. Slide 2 of the ppt has more information on how to access the digital recording of the play, along with the rest of the resources. Free to all state schools in the UK until July 2021. Birds and Bees  is a brand-new show by award-winning writer Charlie Josephine, tailor-made and filmed for secondary school students. Developed with, and for, Year 10 and Year 11 students, it will help teachers address complex topics such as consent, sex positivity, online safety and intersectionality. What teachers are saying: *“Invaluable resource with great planning for lessons pre and post. Effective resource for GCSE play review question because we can access the performance all year to review in class. The play itself is great to raise important discussions around SRE in schools. I think it was really effective for my pupils to understand / see a non-binary character who they could relate to or be educated on. I use Theatre Centre every year and they do not disappoint!” "I thought that it was very accessible, relatable to our young people and addressed topics that are both current and prevalent. " “The kids will love it! So current and with such an important message.” *

This resource contains access to the digital play and the first two drama lessons that explore the play Birds & Bees by Charlie Josphine. Slide 2 of the ppt has more information on how to access the digital recording of the play, along with the rest of the resources. Free to all state schools in the UK until July 2021. Birds and Bees  is a brand-new show by award-winning writer Charlie Josephine, tailor-made and filmed for secondary school students. Developed with, and for, Year 10 and Year 11 students, it will help teachers address complex topics such as consent, sex positivity, online safety and intersectionality. What teachers are saying: *“Invaluable resource with great planning for lessons pre and post. Effective resource for GCSE play review question because we can access the performance all year to review in class. The play itself is great to raise important discussions around SRE in schools. I think it was really effective for my pupils to understand / see a non-binary character who they could relate to or be educated on. I use Theatre Centre every year and they do not disappoint!” "I thought that it was very accessible, relatable to our young people and addressed topics that are both current and prevalent. " “The kids will love it! So current and with such an important message.” *

This resource is a script: UP IN YOUR HEAD BY JON BRITTAIN All the things you have thought of while in lockdown and more. Note from the author: This play can be performed by any number of actors (or indeed, just by one.) Distribute the lines however feels best. And feel free to cut lines or change references that don’t feel right for you. In fact to be honest, do what you like. Just keep it snappy. *One thing to note is the line “What does 30,000 people even look like?” This was written when that was the overall covid death toll - so that can either be kept as was or updated to reflect the current death toll. 19 of the UK’s most exciting writers have written a collection of stories for the nation to perform and record. In August 2020, we ran a Festival to celebrate ImagiNation and screened 19 films made up of submissions from people all over the UK. You can see the films on our YouTube channel. The Imagination plays are the perfect provision to use in your school with a Drama or English class, or as something for your Drama Club to do at home via zoom while you can’t meet in person as a great way to feel connected. Get your students to record whole stories or just a line or paragraph from one of the plays. It’s up to you.  You don’t need any acting experience at all. We just want you to enjoy telling a story. ImagiNation is supported by a series of ‘How to…’ videos to give you some tips from top professionals on directing, acting, voice and filming.

Learning outcomes These resources are designed to continue to embed ideas and dramatic techniques explored in Twist into students’ learning and assist them in applying these ideas to their own work. The play text can be used as a starting point to build into their own devised work. Summary Students will have the opportunity to develop their skills in numerous areas within the Drama curriculum. The session plans have been designed to provide ideas for drama lessons and include work on: approaches to characterisation, units and objectives, exploring Abo’s journey, cross-cutting, constructing dramatic contrasts and writing a review. These session plans may be adapted or combined to suit the needs of your pupils. The Play Twist by Chinonyerem Odimba Synopsis: In a radical reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, we follow one refugee’s journey, buffeted between borders and bad company. Twist transforms Oliver’s struggle for sanctuary into a modern tale framed by the global crisis fast defining the 21st century. Teeming with Dickens’ audacious characters, this production marks a bold collaboration for Theatre Centre, pioneers of new writing for young audiences. Rising-star Chino Odimba has written for National Theatre and was shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. Theatre Centre’s first adaptation in over a decade, this retelling of a Victorian masterpiece will challenge intolerance with urgency and compassion. Extracts of the script are included and the full text can be purchased directly from the Theatre Centre website.