Our Theatre in Education Resource Guide is for teachers or youth workers leading groups of Young People aged 14-19 years old.
It uses the powerful tool of drama to engage young people with the social issues explored in The Spirit Level.
This material has been devised by Holly Meechan and Eva Arnold who are both theatre practitioners with a combined 12 years of experience in leading drama workshops for young people on a number of subjects. The exercises have been trialled with several groups of young people in London with a positive response from both students and teachers. The workshop enables young people to personally connect with the themes by relating them to their own lives and experiences, thus then helping them to understand these themes in a wider context.
Download the Theatre in Education resource guide here.
A 1 hour 45 minutes workshop should run as follows:
- One of the two warm up exercises (5 mins)
- Introducing income inequality (20 mins)
- Exploring status (10 mins)
- A game of trust (10 mins)
- Image work (15 mins)
- One of the two stories (violence or teen pregnancy) (40 mins)
- Ending (5 mins)
A few quotes from the trials so far:
“The workshop taught me how actions and words can completely change everything” Year 13 student – Bridge Academy, Hackney
“I most enjoyed the forum theatre aspect of the workshop” Year 13 student – Bridge Academy, Hackney
“I found the bit (about pay ratios) interesting because it was shocking” Year 10 student – St. Martin-in-the-Fields High School, Brixton
“I most enjoyed the acting out of the article about the three teenage sisters and finding out about the difference in income inequality. I found this interesting because it will affect future generations.” Year 10 student – St. Martin-in-the-Fields High School, Brixton