Editorial: Summer Term 2 2022-23

You’ll inevitably have heard endless chatter so far this year about the 400^th anniversary of the printing of Shakespeare’s First Folio. It’s a seminal text in the world of theatre, without which we may never have known such plays as The Tempest or Twelfth Night. While we have been – and will continue to be – touching on this momentous anniversary throughout the year, this issue we focus on the editors of this pioneering publication. Playwright Amelia Marriette explains why their stories need telling and how she brought them to life in her new play (p16). Look out for a few other First Folio-related stories in my Bardwatching column this issue, including a stunning new typeface that has been created by Shakespeare’s Globe, designed from woodcut illustrations found within the Folio (p12).

With teachers eight times more likely to suffer from voice-related health conditions than other professions, we need to make sure they are looking after their voices in the workplace. Jo Smith has been running voice workshops for students on the Initial Teacher Training Course at Portsmouth University, so we asked her to join us this issue to share some techniques to support stamina and durability of the voice in the demanding classroom environment. These methods could serve as useful exercises in CPD workshops and sessions in your schools (p18).

With summer upon us and the return of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Mike Calderone joins us to outline his experience of taking students to the world-famous festival and the steps he’d recommend taking if you’re thinking of organising a similar trip (p23). Travelling further afield still, we visit LASALLE College of the Arts, one of Singapore’s top performing arts institutions, to find out more about its University of the Arts slated to open next year (p20).

While we often spotlight a theatre practitioner in Drama & Theatre, we decided to switch things up this issue and focus on a visionary creator from the world of dance. American choreographer Merce Cunningham designed a unique methodology built on chance, which can be translated into the drama classroom to help students with experimentation and spontaneity (p38).

As ever, it’s a wide and varied issue of Drama & Theatre – and we hope you enjoy!

- Freya Parr, editor