Making a difference is a major theme of this first issue of Teaching Drama for the academic year. We've been hearing about skills shortages in the backstage areas of the industry, so we've set out to explore that idea both in our Green Room debate (page 14) and in a big double-interview feature with teachers from two highly regarded backstage vocational courses (page 24). Your talented students could make a real and powerful difference to this undersubscribed part of the industry.
Then there's the difference that drama can make to the lives and opinions of young people. We've looked at the former through Intermission Youth Theatre and their work with young offenders and other vulnerable yo ung people (page 28); and we've explored the latter through a project designed to get young people inspired about politics and voting (page 27).
Theatre productions can shape opinion too. Among other things explored in this issue are two productions tackling international issues regarding human rights: The Jungle (page 49), and World Factory: The Game (page 31). In the latter case, you can ߢplay’ the piece in your own classrooms, engaging your students with moral questions about foreign labour and economies.
Finally, in honour of all of this, we've made a small difference to Teaching Drama: introducing a new regular feature for this academic year. Teacher and practitioner Patrice Baldwin presents a drama strategy on page 32 of this issue and in every one of the next five – practical systems that you can use in your drama studio to enhance your practice.
The Music & Drama Education Expo | Manchester is fast approaching, taking place at Old Trafford on 11 October 2018. I am enormously excited to have been able to secure a double-length workshop with practitioners from Frantic Assembly for the programme this year. The workshop, usually available in schools at a cost incorporating fees and expenses for the practitioners, will be completely free to attend for our drama delegates and is a really extraordinary opportunity to learn from an exam-board 'set practitioner’ first hand. Stanislavski and Brecht were rather beyond our capabilities in that respect, and frankly, Frantic Assembly are even more exciting. If you haven't registered yet to attend, you can do so at www.mdexpo.co.uk/Manchester. Bear in mind that there is no guarantee this opportunity will be available at the London Expo in 2019!
Wishing you a fantastic start to your year, and a whole host of inspired and inspiring new students.