Play for study: Two

Jim Cartwright's Two, first performed in 1989 at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, is a funny and touching play exploring working class characters in 1980s Northern Britain.

Although not a set text, Two can be used as a chosen performance text for GCSE. The play also works well as a piece of repertoire for BTEC Tech Award Component Two, allowing students to develop characterisation skills in workshop, and apply them in performance; while giving teachers a versatile play to cast. Studying Two in any context serves as a great exploration of characterisation and subtext at KS3, 4 and 5.

The plot is simple: a real time, one scene snapshot of life in a local pub one weekend evening. The action revolves around the landlord and landlady who run the pub, and different pairs of people who are customers. It moves back and forth, spotlighting the different relationships, coming back to the landlord and landlady each time.