CPD review: Teach Woyzeck for A Level Drama

Woyceck is tough. I didn’t study it at A Level and have since managed to get through a career in the theatre without having read or seen it once (hangs head in shame). So ahead of my CPD session with We Teach Drama I sat down to read it for the first time.

And it’s tough. On first impression, it seems to behave more like poetry than narrative – rich, distant, complex. The story itself is written so simply that it has this sort of mythic quality. It’s violent, tragic and morally challenging. There are many strange characters and a palpable feeling of threat throughout.

It’s a compelling and addictive play, and such a contrast to contemporary theatre in the UK right now. For these reasons and many more it’s a great set text, but how do you steer students towards understanding and writing about it?

Our Zoom CPD session was an hour and a half, starting at 3.30pm. There were about 15 of us gathered together, and as is common with these kinds of things, most people kept their videos off. What was helpful is that there were two teachers leading the session: Lucy Bellingham and Bindya Chauhan. Between them, they taught, presented resources, took frequent questions from the chat, all the while reflecting and sharing impressions with one another as they went.

We covered a huge amount in 90 minutes at a fast rate, so I was glad to hear the session was being recorded to be sent out by the end of the week, together with a detailed pack, on top of the pre‑reading we had already received. This might sound like a lot of material, but it felt like a decent bang for your buck, and the pre‑reading was clear, well thought out and practical.

When Bindya teaches Woyceck she insists on reading the whole text aloud with the group – it’s a text that it is shorter than The Caucasian Chalk Circle. You can start to ask relevant questions from day one. Then she would ask the students to summarise each scene in an image and a sentence. Switching back and forth between textual analysis and practical tasks is the thing to remember, but the big take away is that original performance conditions are crucial. In the exam, this aspect needs to be clear, and stated right from the off. Lucy and Bindya swear by the textbook Modern Drama in Theatre and Practice: Volume 3, Expressionism and Epic Theatre.

The session was full of useful tips about accessing the play, and being led by teachers it felt like it was based on real experience of the classroom. Practical, informative, and supportive, I would highly recommend future sessions from We Teach Drama to other educators.

weteachdrama.com