Editorial: Spring Term 1 2019-20

Earlier this year, ticket sales agent Encore Tickets commissioned a study from Dr Natasha Kirkham of the Centre for Brain Development at Birkbeck's Department of Psychological Sciences. The aim was to discover whether there were any direct benefits to brain development in children experiencing live theatre. Gratifyingly (and not surprisingly for those of us who are passionate advocates of the medium), the answer was a resounding ‘yes’. The study found that benefits drawn from seeing live theatre performances include:‘

It's great to see the emotional and cognitive benefits of live theatre, something we have all long been aware of anecdotally, backed up by a proper academic study. In this issue of Drama & Theatre, we cover a number of opportunities to reap these rewards for your students: among reference to nearly 50 different productions currently available to see live in the UK, we look in depth at productions of Jane Eyre, Henry V, Billionaire Boy and SIX – all focusing on what seeing them live can offer students.