“Black Theatre Makers from the Archive to the Classroom” is the latest project from Staging the Archive. Funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (Research England) it addresses the lack of access to plays and resources for teaching new texts by Black theatre maker which has been a key barrier in the diversification of school curricula and how what is studied at schools influences who makes and teaches theatre tomorrow.

The project features 6 plays which showcase the rich diversity of work written, adapted, developed and performed by Black theatre makers working in Britain in the early twentieth century. Some have been credited to the Black artists who made them, others have not.

The outputs have involved a partnership with teachers, theatre-makers and the British Library’s Learning Team to co-create digital learning resources to support the study and teaching of plays in classrooms by Black theatre makers working in Britain in the first half of the twentieth century. The resources include:

• 6 newly commissioned essays written by leading researchers and practitioners in the field whose work helps us both understand how easily certain plays and theatre makers slip out of history and make a compelling case for why we should study and stage these plays today
• A suite of teaching resources to introduce plays by Black theatre makers into the classroom including knowledge organisers, teaching strategies, play extracts and short films.
You can view and download the resources here: Discovering Literature: Black Theatre Makers in the 20th century