What do I go to school for? The exams. Or something more.

This week I was lucky to see a production of Macbeth with students from my school. It just so happened to coincide with many other schools visiting at the same time. The theatre was awash of Year 10 and Year 11 students and they were spellbound, silent and mesmerised by the production. Not a peep could be heard. Not a phone going off. Not even a rustle of sweet wrappers. As one colleague (not an English teacher) mentioned, it was so good to see so many young people attending and enjoying theatre. 

Over the last year and a half, I have taken students to see Of Mice and Men, Great Gatsby, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist and Macbeth. Over the years, we’ve seen Six, History Boys, Blood Brothers, Hamlet, Little Shop of Horrors, Great Expectations and so on. We’ve not taken them because they are studying the text - only one was a text studied at GCSE by our students.. We’ve not taken them because of the curriculum. Instead, we have taken them because we can. A group of thirty students, several teachers in a combination of minibus and several cars regularly attend the theatre in the evening. And, they love it!  

The problem we have is that we have become so shackled by curriculums that things are only done to serve those curriculums. The theatre was packed with students because it was a GCSE text they were studying. Not because they wanted to enjoy some theatre. Theatre is used only to serve the curriculum. What happened to broadening the cultural aspirations of students?  Why should we only visit the theatre if it is a GCSE text? 

Theatre is about experiences and boy have I had them. There was the time I had to cope with constantly fainting students in The Globe’s version of Romeo and Juliet. There were that many fainters that I saw only Romeo and Juliet fall in love… and die. Then, there was the time I had to pop out to take an emergency call in An Inspector Calls to return to gobsmacked students amazed that the house had collapsed in my absence. They constantly referred to it as the best bit in the play on the journey back. Also, there was the time when I had to remove a girl from the theatre constantly screaming during The Woman in Black. I'm sure the actual Woman in Black on stage felt a bit sympathetic for the poor girl. Finally, there was the time I spent a whole performance of Oliver Twist glaring at my class to find who was the phantom crisp rattler to discover it was a whole group of young cubs on the back row. Their leader thought one way to shut up boisterous boys was to feed them an endless supply of crisps. Theatre can dazzle, impress, change and affect people in so many ways. Theatre makes us feel. 

When did theatre become an all or nothing option? In schools, we either take every Year 10 child to see Macbeth, or it doesn’t happen. What happened to the options? Who would like to see Little Shop of Horrors? Ten of you. Great - let’s take you. We let planning a theatre trip become so complicated that it simply just doesn’t happen. The thought of taking hundreds of students sounds like the biggest headache for some teachers and understandably teachers would avoid it like the plague. We need it to be acceptable to take a small group to the theatre. I take twenty to thirty students at a time. Easy to manage and limited number of teachers needed.  

Lesley Manville recently talked about mobile phone usage in theatre and I thoroughly agree with her. The problem is that students don’t learn the etiquette of theatre unless they go to a theatre. In recent years, we have seen a rise in inappropriate behaviour in theatre and I won’t put this at the feet of schools, but, we do help enforce the rules of behaviour. Our kids know that they should be off their phones. They know that they shouldn’t talk. They know that they shouldn’t rustle their sweet packets loudly. If students never experience live theatre, then how will they ever learn? 

Finally, there is a social aspect of theatre. The discussions we’ve had have been really interesting and fruitful. We came away from our latest one with discussion on how we liked the presentation of Lady Macbeth and how she is often presented as quite cold and naggy. This production had a fully-rounded character who was quite a sexual presence. It opened up quite an interesting discussion around the presentation of women. Theatre makes us think, reflect and question. It might be an idea, a presentation, or even how did they do that?

Theatre makes us think.  

Isn’t it time we had a change in our relationship with theatre? The Arts are under attack and, if I am honest we are supporting that attack, if the only time we see a play is because it serves an exam. My daughter has studied A-level English Literature and not once has she seen a play in the theatre with the school. It saddens me when my own A-level experience included Macbeth, The Duchess of Malfi, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet and many more. We need to provide them with the opportunities. The text is engaging but the theatre makes it real and memorable. 

If we are not careful, we are making theatre a privilege for the privileged. 

Thanks for reading, 

Xris