Opinion with Hannah Marr

Historically, going to the theatre has often been seen as the preserve of the elite – probably the London elite. But initiatives across the industry are driving change and improving access – and certainly an absolutely crucial aspect of this is increasing access for schools and young people. Of course, there is still more to do. A 2017 study by Shakespeare's Globe found that half of teenagers had never been to the theatre (Source: BBC News – www.bbc.co.uk/news/education). And in the context of the ever-increasing squeeze on school arts funding, genuine equity of access continues to prove challenging.

However, one area of access that has seen huge strides forwards in the last few years (helped, whisper it, by the pandemic) is digital theatre. Disclaimer: I work for a digital theatre platform. But don't take my word for it, 250 Drama and English teachers who took part in our recent survey are saying the same thing. With 78 per cent saying that students are more engaged with dramatic texts after seeing a performance and over half saying that cost and logistics are prohibitive in organising live theatre trips, digital captures of live performances are an important tool to ensure all students can experience plays as they were intended: performed and not just read.

Nothing can compare to the experience of watching a play in a theatre, immersed in the action, with the actors mere metres away. But in an educational context, where students are expected to analyse the play, the acting, the set design, the lighting, there are real additional benefits to being able to watch a high-quality filmed capture of a play. Notably, students can rewatch key scenes and moments as often as needed, can pause to take notes, and do not have to worry about missing a crucial plot point when the person in the row in front decides to stand up. Of the 250 teachers surveyed, 84 per cent agreed that digital theatre is a useful tool for teaching Drama or English.

Dramatic texts make up a minimum of 25 per cent of an English GCSE's curriculum. And logically this means that understanding them is a cornerstone of academic success.

So it is brilliant to see that theatre producers are increasingly considering how to film their productions right from the start of their programming cycle, and that teachers are seeing the value of digitised productions for their students. Indeed, as the creativity of lockdown productions such as The Show Must Go Online showed, filming productions in theatres is only the beginning. Digital and online theatre opens up a whole new world of innovation and possibility and I, for one, can't wait to see what the future of digital theatre holds.

Hannah Marr - Director of Education for Digital Theatre +.