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:‘

• Improved social tolerance: Experiencing live theatre over watching similar content via a screen, such as a movie, can achieve a much deeper understanding and absorption of the content leading to higher levels of social tolerance and a greater ability to question
• Improved academic performance: Engagement with performing arts positively impacts academic performance and can boost academic performance of the average child by 4% when drama is part of the curriculum
• Positive social change: Theatre holds immense value for children's developing minds. It is a powerful tool for facilitating children and teenagers' self-efficacy to promote positive social change as well as an improved ability to broach complex and difficult issues and subjects.

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.

By the time you read this we will have a new government, and we can but hope that whoever forms it recognises the urgent need for support faced by a theatre industry which brings twice as many tourists to the UK as does sport, and which along with other parts of our creative industries contributes more than £100 billion to the economy. A recent Symposium of the Creative Schools alliance gathered together London schools and cultural institutions in a bid to ensure access to a creative education, in the wake of the publication of the Durham Commission report which called for the arts to be woven through the learning process. There are plenty of voices out there shouting, of which Drama & Theatre's is one – surely if we keep at it we'll eventually be heard.

Sarah Lambie, Editor

Twice each term of the academic year, Drama & Theatre brings you practical strategies, lesson plans, and inspiration to enhance your teaching. Whether you teach in a school context at primary or secondary level, lead extra-curricular drama workshops, or give private tuition, D&T is an invaluable resource written for teachers by teachers, playwrights and practitioners.