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NATIONAL DRAMA

Author name: nd@nationaldrama.org.uk

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Theatre Arts Technology in the Scottish Primary Drama Classroom: The Sum of Unequal P‘arts’

While the Expressive Arts curriculum aims for a holistic approach to drama, the weight given to its individual components is skewed. Since the implementation of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) this research is the first to focus on primary teachers’ perspectives on theatre arts technology (lighting, set, sound, props, make-up and hair, and costume), as both a pedagogic tool and component of performance. Exploring the unequal p‘arts’ of the drama curriculum, the study identifies a significant curricular imbalance: the single mention of theatre arts technology in the primary level drama descriptors stands in direct contrast to the nine collective mentions of performance-based skills (voice, movement, and role play). Drawing from a larger mixed-methods study the research surveyed 83 teachers across diverse primary demographics using a 32-item questionnaire which was analysed via descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis.

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Sarah Kane’s Theatre of Psychic Life: Theatre, Thought, and Mental Suffering

Sarah Kane was one of the landmark playwrights of 1990s Britain, her influence being felt across UK and European theatre. This is the first book to focus exclusively on Kane’s unique approach to mind and mental health. It offers an important re-evaluation of her oeuvre, revealing the relationship between theatre and mind which lies at the heart of her theatrical project.

Drawing on performance theory, psychoanalysis and neuroscience, this book argues that Kane’s innovations generate a ‘dramaturgy of psychic life’, which re-shapes the encounter between stage and audience. It uses previously unseen archival material and contemporary productions to uncover the mechanics of this innovative theatre practice.

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Volume 16.2 Notes on Authors

Notes on Authors David Allen is Artistic Director of Midland Actors Theatre (UK). The company was lead partner on three Erasmus Plus projects on the work of Dorothy Heathcote. David runs the Facebook group, ‘The Commission Model of Teaching,’ and the website www.mantlenetwork.com. He is the convenor of the annual Dorothy Heathcote Now conference. He

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Using narrative analysis to create story drama: A model example using Jon Fosse’s fairy tale The Fiddler Girl.

In this piece, the author employs narrative analysis inspired by Russian Formalism to explore content and form of Jon Fosse’s illustrated children’s book, ‘The Fiddler Girl’ [Spelejenta] (2009). Fosse is the Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature for 2023. By drawing on the tradition of fairy tales, the analysis examines how themes of empowerment and quest enhance each other within the story. Supplemented by educational drama theory from the legacy of Dorothy Heathcote, and close reading as a main tool, the author presents a practical arts-based workshop example of how a fairy tale can inspire and be transformed into a story drama.

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The Different Voices of the Teacher in Mantle of the Expert: Developing Community and Student agency

This article is a review of the workshop conducted at the Heathcote Now Conference, November 2024, led by Tim Taylor, alongside Richard Kieran and Lisa Hinton from Woodrow First School, Redditch. The content of the workshop was originally taught across Woodrow First School in the summer of 2024.

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