Education Resource Packs
Discover tailor-made resource packs for teachers and educators to assist you in the classroom.
What materials are available?
New resource packs for GCSE set-texts Leave Taking (1987), Princess and the Hustler (2019), Gone Too Far! (2007), and Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (1958) are available now.
Additional resource packs for Charlene James’ Cuttin’ It (2016), Inua Ellams’ adaptation of Three Sisters (2019), and Jasmine Lee-Jones’ play seven methods of killing kylie jenner (2019) are available below. All resource packs are freely available for educators.
Each resource pack includes information on:
- The play’s original performance
- Historical and cultural context for the plays
- Interviews with the writer or director
- Analyses of characters and themes
- Breakdowns of the play’s structure
- Exercises for students
- Further reading and useful links
Further plays from the Black Plays Archive are available to watch on the National Theatre Collection, including Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum Dreams (2014), Inua Ellams’ Barber Shop Chronicles (2017),Winsome Pinnock’s Rockets and Blue Lights (2021) and many more.
The National Theatre Collection is free for UK state primary and secondary schools and FE colleges. For more information, please head to the National Theatre Collection page on the National Theatre website.
Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock
Leave Taking is an epic story about what we leave behind in order to find home.
When mother Enid takes daughters Del and Viv to a local obeah woman for some Caribbean soul-healing, secrets are spilled.
Written by playwright Winsome Pinnock in 1987, the play was staged at the National Theatre in 1994.
For Key Stages 4 and 5.
Princess and the Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba
Princess and the Hustler follows Princess, a ten-year-old girl with dreams of winning the Weston-super-Mare Beauty Contest.
In 1963 Bristol, as Black British Civil Rights campaigners walk onto the streets, Princess finds out what it really means to be black and beautiful.
Written by playwright Chinonyerem Odimba, the play was staged at Bristol Old Vic Theatre in 2019.
For Key Stages 4 and 5.
Gone Too Far! by Bola Agbaje
Gone Too Far! follows clashing cultures on a multicultural London estate.
When London born Yemi bristles against his recently arrived Nigerian brother, Ikudayisi, trouble abounds when standing out from the crowd isn’t encouraged.
Written by playwright Bola Agbaje, the play was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in 2007.
For Key Stages 4 and 5.
Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Errol John
Moon on a Rainbow Shawl follows down on their luck Trinidadians looking for a brighter future.
Sharing a derelict tenement yard, neighbours hope for success in their personal and professional lives, but such hope comes at a cost.
Written by playwright Errol John, the play was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in 1958.
For Key Stages 4 and 5.
Cuttin' It by Charlene James
Tsion Habte (left) and Adelayo Adedayo (left) in Charlene James’ Cuttin’ It. Photo © David Sandison.
Cuttin’ It is a play about the heart-wrenching connection between two London school girls from Somalia.
The past and present collide in a tale centred around friendship and the harrowing impact of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain.
The play was written by activist, actor and playwright Charlene James in 2016.
For Key Stages 4 and 5.
Three Sisters adapted by Inua Ellams
Sarah Niles (left) as Lolo, Natalie Simpson (middle) as Nne and Rachel Ofori (right) as Udo in Inua Ellams’ adaptation of Chekov’s Three Sisters, National Theatre, 2019. Photograph © The Other Richard.
Anton Chekhov’s original Three Sisters is set in 19th century Russia during a time of upheaval. Inua Ellams’ adaptation is set in 1960s Nigeria, a country struggling with the legacy of colonialism.
Independence brings the possibility of change but white Europeans are still in the background, pulling strings and reaping the benefits – nothing has changed.
For Key Stages 4 and 5.
seven methods of killing kylie jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones
Danielle Vitalis as Cleo (left) and Tia Bannon as Kara (right) in Jasmine Lee-Jones’ play Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner at the Royal Court Theatre, 2019. Photograph © Helen Murray
Jasmine Lee-Jones’ play seven methods of killing kylie jenner (styled in lower-case) is set in the real world and online.
The play follows two young Black women navigating race, colourism, misogyny, power, and privilege after a Twitter thread goes viral online.
This resource pack was made by Maylene Catchpole and the Open Court Education Department at the Royal Court Theatre. The resource is hosted on the Black Plays Archive with permission of the parties involved in its creation.
For Key Stages 4 and 5.
National Theatre Collection Learning Guides
Actor Anthony Welsh (left) and writer Inua Ellams (right) in rehearsal for Ellam’s play Barber Shop Chronicles. Photo © Marc Brenner
Drawing on 15 years of NT Live broadcasts, alongside high-quality archive recordings never previously seen outside of the NT’s Archive, the National Theatre Collection offers filmed performances to stream in schools.
Learning Guides include all the information you need to enable you to study the production and write about it in detail. These include plot synopses with timecodes, notes about the key elements from performance style to design, pointers for further research, and much more.
Learning Guides are available for the following plays from the Black Plays Archive:
- Barber Shop Chronicles by Inua Ellams
- Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (adapted by Inua Ellams)
- Chewing Gum Dreams by Michaela Coel
- Rockets and Blue Lights by Winsome Pinnock
- Small Island by Andrea Levy (adapted by Helen Edmundson)
- The Wife of Willesden by Zadie Smith.
More to explore
Need an audition monologue? Discover a variety of contemporary plays by Black writers.
Explore That Black Theatre Podcast, focusing on all things Black Theatre and its history in the UK.
Explore the history of the National Theatre through its archive. This link opens in a new tab.