Pearson has also announced a new partnership with the London Theatre Consortium (LTC) where they will help create extra content for teachers by working with the original producing theatres of each text.
The four plays, published by Methuen Drama, will be added to Pearson’s Edexcel GCSE course in favour of diversifying representation across the board. They are Tanika Gupta’s India-based adaptation of A Doll’s House; Roy Williams’ 21st century update of the classic tragedy Antigone; Bola Agbaje’s award winning play about race identity and youth culture Gone Too Far! and In-Sook Chappell’s North Korean-based drama The Free9.
Speaking about the updated GCSE qualification, Katy Lewis, head of English, Drama and Languages at Pearson said: ‘We are committed to working with schools and young people to drive change and create learning environments that reflect the diversity of the modern world.
‘We want all learners to see themselves in the literature they study; to find belonging, understanding, and value through representation, and to see our whole society fairly reflected. Our work does not stop here. As part of our drive to improve diversification, we will also be considering adding playwrights that give us greater representation across gender, heritage, LGBTQ+ and disability.’
Romana Flello, participation manager at the Royal Court Theatre and chair of the LTC Creative Learning Group, said: ‘Since 2015, the Royal Court and LTC have worked closely with Pearson to embed better representation of artists from the global majority throughout the teaching and examination of Drama. It is uplifting to see them lead the way in GCSE Drama and we look forward to engaging more student, teacher and industry voices in change within Drama classrooms as we continue to work towards an inclusive Drama curriculum.’
Dom O’Hanlon, senior commissioning editor for Methuen Drama said: ‘Methuen Drama are committed to publishing diverse voices through our various play series and are delighted to hear that these four plays are being added to the curriculum.
‘The works of Roy Williams, Tanika Gupta, Bola Agbaje and In-Sook Chappell all offer a wide range of stories that will appeal to students at GCSE level. We have published these four plays in our Plays for Young People series, specifically updated and revised to meet student needs and we’re confident that teachers and students will enjoy exploring these fantastic texts together.’
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