A Web Archive of Theatre Translation Resources

Lead Research Organisation: University of Kent
Department Name: Sch of Arts

Abstract

This project will address the issue of under-representation of cultural difference in the British secondary school Drama curriculum by creating an open-access educational website of video resources to engage secondary school children with foreign-language plays. By targeting young Drama students and their teachers we will train future theatre-makers and audiences to appreciate stories from diverse contexts and empathise with culturally distant others.

About 22% of the UK population in 2015 was either born abroad or a foreign citizen, however only about 3.8% of plays in British theatres every year are originally written in a language other than English and the British secondary school Drama curriculum does little to include non-English/non-British material for students to engage with linguistic and cultural diversity through theatre. This alarming representation gap must be addressed and supporting teachers in choosing plays in translation would be an effective way to change the status quo. Reducing the representation gap between curriculum requirements, students' cultural backgrounds and availability of teaching resources is even more pressing when we think about international/British schools overseas offering CGSEs, A-Levels, BTEC and IB qualifications in Drama to a multicultural, multilingual and multiracial student body.

From my extensive consultation period with over twenty teachers working in the UK and overseas, I have concluded that there is a clear intellectual and academic gap, and an urgent ethical call, to expand education resources in this area to foster dialogue on cultural and linguistic difference in English-speaking schools offering Drama both as an assessed subject and/or as an enrichment activity.

The project builds on the research and expertise acquired through my award-winning AHRC Leadership Fellowship - entitled 'Translation, Adaptation, Otherness: "Foreignisation" in Theatre Practice' - focusing on the representation of cultural and linguistic difference in theatre translation. Investigating the reasons behind the disappointing number of translations in British theatre repertoires, the PI identified secondary school Drama education as a potential area of impact to foster more engagement with, and representation of, cultural and linguistic difference on English-speaking stages in the future.

Increasing representation of non-English languages and culture on English-speaking stages is of paramount importance to foster understanding among communities in multicultural societies, such as the UK, but also in the US, where translations of foreign-language texts tend to be rare and immigration high.

Included in the website will be newly commissioned filmed extracts of five plays in the original language and two English translations, in order to highlight how translation strategies can have an impact on the production. The videos will be entirely new and curated for the project, featuring a professional cast. We will also produce and include on the website: film interviews with key practitioners working in the field; extensive contextualisations of the plays by academics and theatre-makers; and teaching resources clarifying how to integrate the resource into the GCSE, A-Level, BTEC and IB curricula.

Collaborating with far-reaching theatre organisations such as the Gate, London, which has been keen a champion of theatre translation, and the Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, a venue which focuses on young people, the project will create accessible educational resources for pupils to engage with foreign-language plays i as investigated in the PI's Fellowship project. The Project's Advisory Board includes five Heads of Drama working in secondary schools in England and theatre managers from the Gate, the Gulbenkian and the Royal Court Theatre. We will employ experienced academics and teachers to deliver the resources.

These resources will encourage long-term mind shifts and internationalisation.

Planned Impact

The project will have an impact on:

Students. Secondary school/college students of Drama will benefit from a resource enabling them to discuss and practice cultural difference in a positive way in the classroom. English as an Additional Language (EAL) students in particular will feel included in conversation and exercises that valorise their identity and knowledge. Encouraging young people to put themselves in the shoes of culturally distant others through staging plays together will bring a spirit of genuine multicultural exchange and empathy with others in classrooms. An enhanced understanding of the negotiations and politics involved in intercultural communication will bring about more interest in plays in translation, thus increasing the likelihood that students will embrace the values of internationalisation in their adult lives.

Teachers. Drama teachers, especially those teaching Drama for BTEC, GCSEs, A-Levels and IB qualifications in UK and international schools, will find our resources crucial to connect to and engage with a diverse student body generating discussions and live practice about linguistic and cultural diversity with students in a positive framework. The resources will integrate the teaching of plays in translation to the requirements of the national curriculum for the most common qualifications taught in British and international schools all over the world but will also be useful to approach plays in translation as an enrichment, extra-curricular activity. Our consultations show that English-speaking Drama teachers around the world desperately need this resource to close the current gap between curriculum, student body and available teaching resources.

Theatre professionals. Theatre-makers working in multicultural English-speaking societies will benefit from our resources highlighting the crucial issue of representation in the arts. We will have an impact on the cast involved in our project: fifteen actors and five directors will connect with foreign playwrights working outside Britain. We will promote the work of foreign playwrights by disseminating their work among an international audience of young people and by putting them in touch UK-based theatre-makers, thus increasing the chances of further professional collaborations. We will also have an impact on translators working on the project by highlighting and promoting their work to an international audience.

General public. Members of the general public with an interest in theatre and the arts will find our resources useful to explore the subject of representing different cultures and languages in English. The website will communicate the urgency, timeliness and topicality of theatre translation as an instrument for intercultural communication and understanding.

Dissemination. We will launch the project with a reception at the Gate Theatre where we will invite an audience of key players in Drama education. The Gulbenkian Theatre and the Gate Theatre will include news items about the resource in their marketing emails and press material. We will hire a dedicated marketing person promoting the project in the UK and abroad for three intensive weeks following the launch, using social media, email flyers, direct calls to relevant organisations, contacts with teachers, journalists, bloggers and university lecturers. Teachers in our Advisory Board and in our partner school, Wootton Upper School, will utilise the resources in their institutions and promote them through word of mouth. After the initial three weeks, the PI will continue to promote the resources on social media and through the University of Kent's Partnership Development Office and the School of Arts' dedicated Impact Officer.

Measuring impact. We will measure our impact through an anonymous feedback survey for users via the website. We will also carry out a series of interviews with teachers, students and theatre-makers on their use of our resources.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title A website of educational resources highlighting 20 contemporary international plays 
Description We have created a website of educational resources highlighting 20 contemporary international plays to encourage more secondary-school teachers and students to engage with plays from around the world. This website is our main output for this award. It consists of an open-access platform which spotlights contemporary plays from 6 continents, written in 16 original languages and already published in English. We have commissioned, edited and produced a series of teaching and learning resources that contextualise the plays for teachers and students. Resources include: filmed video extracts of plays in the original language and two different English translations; essays; interviews with creative teams; translators' notes; synopses and education packs featuring bespoke practical activities and discussion points for young people. 
Type Of Art Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact We are putting the finishing touches on the website and have not published it yet, so no impact yet. 
URL http://www.performinginternationalplays.com
 
Description The main achievement of this award has been the creation of specialist Drama education resources for teachers and students wishing to explore international plays. The website, www.performinginternationalplays.com, showcases a selection of 20 contemporary plays from 6 continents, written in 16 languages. It enriches these published plays with education packs including: academic essays, character lists, synopses, interviews, suggested classroom activities and discussion points, video extracts of play scenes in three different versions, including one on the original language, and two different English translations/adaptations.
Exploitation Route The main aim of the website is that it be used and appropriated freely by teachers and learners, and put to the service of each class' needs. We have been in conversations with several teacher who have been using the resource in ways that we hadn't anticipated. We are exploring the option of offering workshops for teachers to familiarise themselves with our resources, in order to give them ideas on how to use the website and make the most of it in their teaching.
Sectors Education

Culture

Heritage

Museums and Collections

 
Description In 2021, this grant resulted in the creation of a website called Performing International Plays (PIP), which created educational resources on a selection of published international plays for secondary school teachers and students, with the aim of diversifying the curriculum and making each student feel represented by the Drama and MFL curriculum. The website filled a gap in the market and encouraged many Drama and MFL teachers to consider the value of contemporary international plays and their potential to equip students with international cultural capital. Contemporary international plays are usually not published with satisfactory contextualisations, or not published at all, leading to a gap in knowledge and a difficulty in teaching pupils about them, despite their relevance and timeliness. Our website has created accessible, user friendly resources that empower teachers to use these plays in classrooms, hence diversifying classroom material with global stories, and improving inclusion and representation of cultural difference. Drama Teachers in British classrooms have been using our resources with students who have directly benefited from the breadth of our cultural offer, gaining intercultural competences and knowledge. In 2022, PIP started to deliver in-person teacher training workshops and student facing creative workshops at the University of Kent. These were our initial attempts do create an in-person teacher CPD and student facing workshop offer. In 2023, PIP established a collaboration with the theatre company Foreign Affairs (FA) and started to market enrichment workshops to state schools and independent fee-paying schools. In the 2023/24 academic year, we have employed 15 freelance facilitators to deliver 20 workshops in 4 schools, reaching over 260 pupils and over 15 their teachers. This work was made possible by AHRC IAA funding, which led to an Arts Council England grant success, and by University of Kent investment which made it possible for PIP and FA to commercialise this research and market their workshops to private schools. More workshops are being planned and actively promoted. We have achieved impact on 3 main groups of stakeholders: students; teachers, school leaders and education professionals; workshop facilitators and theatre practitioners. Students. Impacts on their understanding, learning and participation in school. Acquisition of cultural competence and global citizenship skills by encountering stories from other parts of the world. Increased confidence in articulating how one's culture relates to others, increased engagement with representative/inclusive drama content, the importance, validity and equality of all cultures and languages. English as an Additional Language Students: increased confidence and engagement with content that is representative of cultural diversity, multilinguistic identity, and the interaction between cultures. Teachers, school leaders, and education professionals. Impact on teaching practices and understanding of the value of theatre (in) translation. Impact on curriculum taught to students, increased diversity and inclusion. Awareness of inclusive pedagogies and content and their role in supporting learning outcomes. Increased confidence in delivering diverse content to diverse classrooms. Workshop facilitators and theatre practitioners. Impact on creativity, culture and society. Improved confidence in articulating the importance of international plays, of the value of cultural exchange through drama, and drama in translation. Acquisition of pedagogical tools, experience and insight into teaching theatre translation to young people and facilitating engagement with theatre from global contexts.
First Year Of Impact 2021
Sector Education
Impact Types Cultural

Societal

 
Description PIP website used by school teachers to shape their pedagogy and content delivery
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to new or improved professional practice
 
Description PIP x FA Training Sessions for School Workshop Facilitators
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to new or improved professional practice
 
Description Impact Accelerator Account
Amount £15,000 (GBP)
Organisation University of Kent 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2023 
End 11/2023
 
Description Knowledge Exchange Development Fund
Amount £5,000 (GBP)
Organisation University of Kent 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2022 
End 07/2022
 
Description Migration and Movement Signature Research Theme - Small Grants
Amount £3,000 (GBP)
Organisation University of Kent 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2022 
End 10/2022
 
Description Performing International Plays - School Workshops
Amount £24,289 (GBP)
Funding ID NLPG-00662766 
Organisation Arts Council England 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2023 
End 07/2024
 
Description Royal Court Theatre - International Plays Workshops Facilitator Training Session 
Organisation Royal Court Theatre
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution PIP and FA trained workshop facilitators who then led workshops in 8 Royal Court Partner Schools Programme, based on plays included on the Performing International Plays website.
Collaborator Contribution The Royal Court offered a space in their theatre to have the training, they offered a network of potential workshop leaders and they offered to take our work on international plays to their partner schools.
Impact A one-day training session for workshop facilitators.
Start Year 2023
 
Description 2 x Teacher CPD workshops 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact CPD sessions for teachers on the research behind Performing International Plays, how to engage students with international plays and how to deliver learning outcomes in international cultural capital.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description 9 PIP x FA Workshops on International Plays at Harris Academy South Norwood 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact 9 PIP x FA Workshops on International Plays at Harris Academy South Norwood, working with 3 year groups x 3 workshops each: Y7, Y8, Y9.
International plays were chosen by the students from a pool of 8 plays. Delivered by 6 facilitators.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023,2024
 
Description 9 PIP x FA Workshops on International Plays at Waterside Academy 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact 9 PIP x FA Workshops on International Plays at Waterside Academy in Hackney, London, working with 2 year groups x 3 workshops each: Y8, Y9. International plays were chosen by the students from a pool of 8 plays. Delivered by 6 facilitators.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023,2024
 
Description Conference/Workshop for Drama and Language Teachers 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact This free event for secondary-school teachers took place at King's College London in October 2019 and brought together international educators who work in the crossover area between Drama and Modern Languages. We ran workshops and talks about how the two disciplines can learn and benefit from one another. We facilitated a debate in which we discussed how both disciplines can facilitate learning environments where more young people can practice the values of inclusion and intercultural dialogue. We also promoted the activities of the project, A Web Archive of Theatre Translation Resources, established links with teachers who might use our resources and requested their feedback on our initial plans. Guest speakers included teachers, actor trainers, academics and performers. An audience of 50 attended the event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description PIP workshops for secondary school students 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact In 2021, PIP has delivered workshops for secondary school students at St. Albans High School for Girls, attended by 20 students.
In 2022, PIP has delivered workshops for students at the University of Kent's Youth Summit for secondary schools, attended by 15 students.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021,2022
 
Description PIP workshops for trainee teachers and teachers 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In 2021-22, PIP has delivered workshops for trainee Drama teachers:
- 23 attendees at PGCE providers, such as Sussex University and University of Reading
- 19 attendees at PIP online workshops for Open Drama and SCITED
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description PIP x FA Workshop Facilitator Training Days 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact 2 x Workshop Facilitator Training days. PIP and Foreign Affairs co-designed and co-delivered training for PIP x FA Workshop Facilitators. Sessions attended by 12 Facilitators.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Pilot Workshops at Harris Academy South Norwood 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Pilot PIP x FA workshop for Y10 students on an international play from South Africa, I SEE YOU, by Mongiwhekaya.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://vimeo.com/884449983
 
Description Pilot workshop at Waterside Academy 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Pilot PIP x FA Workshop with Y9s at Waterside Academy, Hackney, based on the South African play I SEE YOU by Mongiwhekaya.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.performinginternationalplays.com/workshops
 
Description Theatre Translation Workshop at Highgate School, London 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact A one-day theatre translation workshop at Highgate School, London, based on a Cuban play and a French play, working with Y13 pupils. Attended by 55 students.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Theatre translation Workshop at St Paul's Girls School 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact A one-day theatre translation workshop with the entire Y9 cohort at SPGS. Working with 115, 9 facilitators, 6 languages.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023