Editorial: Spring Term 2 2021-22

This is the 100th issue of the magazine which started out as Teaching Drama in the autumn of 2005, and became Drama & Theatre after a re-design under new ownership in 2019. In many ways, it's an arbitrary milestone, but for those of us who have brought each issue into being, it felt worthy of marking – and seemed most appropriate to do so by thinking about how far we have come in those 16 years.

Originally a landscape oriented, ring-bound tome, the core of the publication was its schemes of work, which were printed in full, with a couple of features at the beginning, and reviews at the end. Over the years, the schemes of work moved online, to be downloaded and printed as teachers chose, while the news, feature, review, and practical content of the print-magazine expanded exponentially. Since the summer of 2020 we've also had a shiny new website, with news stories added nearly every day, and archive content from tens of issues available to read or download. Meanwhile, D&T co-hosts a huge annual conference for drama educators, and an awards ceremony recognising inspiring work in the drama education world.

In many ways, then, the magazine has gone from strength to strength – thanks in part to the loyalty of a dedicated readership, and also in large part to the unwavering support of managers and owners who have believed unwaveringly in its value to those who subscribe to it.

If only the same could be said of drama in education.

This 100th issue moment-in-time caused me to talk to some of our most regular teacher-contributors and to reflect on what has happened to drama education over the years. The short answer is that its value has been forgotten by the majority of those with the power to control what our young people spend their time doing in their school day. Unfortunately, the most quantifiable means of ‘proving’ the value of drama in education is to talk about the value of ‘the industry’ to the UK economy. However, this really rather misses the point. Drama, as all those who teach it or who teach using it know, is of value not with future career paths in mind but in the immediate moment for those who will never enter those career paths: because it opens young minds to humanity and the human experience, to collaboration and communication, to empathy and history and language and innovation.

On 18 March, the Drama and Theatre Education Alliance (DTEA) are encouraging educational establishments to invite their local MP to see students in performance. It's an awareness drive: not about talent or future careers but about the everyday, immediate benefits of engaging with Drama to change lives. ‘To create dialogue and further understanding about drama and theatre education before it is too late.’

I urge you to do what you can to raise government-level awareness in this way. Meanwhile, we at D&T will continue to support your teaching of this essential subject for another 100 issues and more.

Sarah Lambie, editor