Lesson Plans

Five Great Plays… by contemporary American playwrights

Publish Date: Edit Date: Plays for Study
Each issue of D&T, we bring you five suggested plays for studying or mounting with your students. This issue we look at plays by contemporary American playwrights. All are published by Nick Hern Books

NB: These plays are suitable for sixth-form groups only



by Annie Baker

Cast: 3f, 1m

Synopsis: A young couple, struggling to stay together, book into a bedand-breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of a road trip around historic American sites. Their innkeeper seems cheerful enough, but something about the place seems… off. Maybe it's the thousands of inanimate objects, watching.

Why it's great for study: The hypnotic effect of Annie Baker's signature, hyper-naturalistic style, and how this is fused with supernatural elements more usually found in ghost stories, is fascinating to unpick. It can be studied both as a detailed study of a relationship, but also as a masterclass in how to establish and develop mood and tone.

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