Resource reviews: Children's Theatre Digital

‘In our increasingly alienated world, what could be more important than introducing young people to the healing, uniting, emotional experience of theatre?’, says Michael Attenborough, CBE, one of the newly announced patrons of Children's Theatre Digital. Sharing free theatre entertainment with children across the globe, Children's Theatre Digital is a gigantic online web of videos and information for young students and teachers. Launched during the pandemic by theatre directors Annabel Morley and Sean Hollands, the platform is the world's first and only site that exclusively centralises and streams children's theatre content.

The website is vibrant and brimming with an immense bank of resources – both for free and with pockets of paid-for content – and has recently launched an expansion to offer school resources, alongside a newly implemented monthly subscription service. Three patrons have shown their support for the platform so far alongside Attenborough: actors Nicholas Pinnock and Sonya Walger, and Channel 5 Milkshake presenter Olivia Birchenough.

The resources are promising, with interactive games and animation sitting alongside videos of performances. One of my favourite elements is the discover directory, where you can search for theatre on your doorstep by clicking over a map of the world. The bright and colourful webpage is exciting, if not slightly overpowering, and outlines what is on offer. The library includes content from theatre companies, venues, and festivals of all sizes, expanding the ‘children's theatre’ pigeonhole with videos from Tessa Bide Productions, Can't Sit Still Theatre, Moulded Theatre, Fly High Stories and Wardrobe Ensemble, and Plé Collective.

While their mission is admirable, the website has a number of bright moving elements to catch the attention of students, meaning that the navigation of the paid and unpaid elements is slightly unclear. Additionally, the diversity of the resource is so vast it can be overwhelming, and it can be hard to know where to start. However, these are minor problems, and I can see teachers using a number of these videos and education packs in the classroom without exhausting what is on offer.

While the project was spurred on by the pandemic, the web resource is here to stay; the growth of the website is a sign of how much a resource like this is needed, and how important sharing theatre with children is for the future of our arts industries, one click at a time.

www.childrenstheatredigital.com

The subscription model is priced at £7.99 per month/£79.99 per year, with rentals between £4.99 - £7.99 (with access for 3 days).