New Digital Education Portal launched by National Theatre of Scotland

The National Theatre of Scotland has launched its new online education portal for teachers and students with a specially created resource pack for Hannah Lavery’s Lament for Sheku Bayoh.

Article Source: National Theatre of Scotland
Last Updated: 26 August 2021 9:37

NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND OPENS NEW DIGITAL EDUCATION PORTAL

• The Company launches a new portal aimed at secondary school educators and students
• Access to National Theatre of Scotland new filmed productions
• Specially created resource pack for Hannah Lavery’s Lament for Sheku Bayoh
• Future educational resources for National Theatre of Scotland productions
• Registration now open for teachers and educators

On 25 August the National Theatre of Scotland launched its new online education portal for teachers and students with a specially created educational resource for Hannah Lavery’s powerful production Lament for Sheku Bayoh plus access to a filmed version of the production, captured at the Lyceum Theatre in 2020.

Acclaimed co-production Lament for Sheku Bayoh, a compelling, artistic response to the tragic death of Sheku Bayoh, is currently on stage at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh during the Edinburgh International Festival from 25 to 28 August and also online from 25 to 31 August on National Theatre of Scotland’s website and from eif.co.uk as part of Edinburgh International Festival At Home in partnership with abrdn.

A new resource pack for the production is now freely available to schools and designed to support educators to approach an anti-racism conversation in response to the production. Working closely with writer Hannah Lavery, cast members and other industry professionals, the three co-producers have curated a range of audio, visual and written articles which will support teachers in facilitating positive, constructive conversations around the themes of the play exploring the wider aspects of Scottish cultural identity and enriching the pupil experience of the production.

The resources have been developed with input from poet and facilitator Clementine E Burnley and include tools from organisations such as Training for Change and The Anti-Racist educators.

Clementine Burley said: “Discussions of racism and racial violence when handled sensitively can lead to shifts in understanding. The material in this resource aims to support educators to more safely explore in mixed racial groups the wider social, historical and political aspects of Scottish identity"

The education portal will include resources created to support teachers and secondary school students in Scotland to study selected productions from National Theatre of Scotland’s programme. It will also offer a selection of filmed productions, focussing on the Company’s new productions.

Resources and a filmed version will be made available for the National Theatre of Scotland’s forthcoming production, The Enemy, a radical re-imagining of the classic Henrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People by playwright Kieran Hurley and Enough of Him a National Theatre of Scotland and Pitlochry Festival Theatre co-production from writer May Sumbwanyambe, a thrilling study of the dynamics of power exploring the life of Joseph Knight, an enslaved African man brought to Scotland by plantation owner John Wedderburn to serve in his Perthshire mansion.

Resources for The Enemy will focus on the Higher Drama exam syllabus and will offer short videos of members of the creative team talking about directing, acting, character, space and design.

New filmed productions and resources will be added to the portal throughout the year and will be made available to students and educators in Scotland, UK and internationally. The resources developed will be specific to the Scottish drama curriculum.

The portal will complement National Theatre of Scotland’s existing programme of free-to-access digital content, which includes its series of short theatrical artworks, Scenes for Survival, created by a quarantine team of Scottish theatre-makers and Ghost Light, a celebration of theatre on film made by award-winning film director Hope Dickson Leach. National Theatre of Scotland and Hopscotch Film’s special filmed version of Adam commissioned for BBC Scotland and BBC Arts which tells the remarkable story of a young trans man and his struggle across genders and borders to be himself is currently freely available to watch on BBC iPlayer until early 2022.

Paul Fitzpatrick, Head of Creative Engagement at National Theatre of Scotland said: “We are thrilled to be able to open up the digital doors to National Theatre of Scotland to offer teachers and students across Scotland access to high quality filmed productions and bespoke digital resources created especially for the Scottish education sector.

“We look forward to sharing our work with educators and young people nationwide to help facilitate access to the arts, learning and discussion."

Lament for Sheku Bayoh is a co-production with the Edinburgh International Festival and the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.

Access to the digital education portal can be found here.