This award-winning digital library has been created as a response to the need for a high-quality online research tool for drama and literature students, professors, and teachers. It is the only resource to combine exclusively available playtext content and scholarly publications with filmed live performances, film adaptations, and audio plays.
Drama Online is a fast-growing study resource which now features over 3,500 playtexts from over 1,300 playwrights, over 400 audio plays, 400 hours of video, and 450 scholarly books from leading theatre publishers and companies, offering a complete multimedia experience of theatre. From the epic to the monologue; ensemble to one-person plays; comedy to tragedy; the historical to the contemporary; and from the highly political to the profoundly personal, there is plenty to discover.
Resources
Universal Questions (PDF)
A range of questions and activities that can be shared with students for use with any play/production
Guided Pathways (PDF)
Essential content mapped out for the remote teaching of key texts
Choice Charts (PDF)
A collection of exercises/activities for students to explore interpretive choices remotely
Master Cast
Hosted by Simon Stephens, this six-part series features an award-winning cast of writers, directors, designers, and actors
Episode One - Making Ideas Real: Simon Stephens with Willy Russell (video)
Extension Exercises and Questions (PDF)
Episode Two - Making Words Work: Simon Stephens with Tanika Gupta and Dennis Kelly (video)
Extension Exercises and Questions (PDF)
Episode Three - Reading Between the Lines: Simon Stephens with Miranda Cromwell and Marianne Elliott (video)
Extension Exercises and Questions (PDF)
Episode Four - Creating the World: Simon Stephens with Bunny Christie, Paule Constable, and Ian Dickinson (video)
Extension Exercises and Questions (PDF)
Episode Five - Working with Words: Simon Stephens with Juliet Stevenson (video)
Extension Exercises and Questions (PDF)
Episode Six - Working with Words: Simon Stephens with Andrew Scott (video)
Extension Exercises and Questions (PDF)
Creative Compilations
Interview montages offering students an insight into key aspects of the creative process behind a production
Digital Theatre+ Insights: Creativity and Collaboration (PDF)
Discussion questions and related resources students can use for self-directed learning
Compare and Contrast Compilations
Compare and Contrast Choices Guide (PDF)
Questions and activities for students to use when watching two or more versions of key scenes and speeches
Compare and Contrast: Romeo and Juliet - Act 1, Scene 5 (video)
The famous scene where the star-crossed lovers meet for the first time
Compare and Contrast: Romeo and Juliet - Act 3, Scene 2 (video)
Juliet waits impatiently for nightfall and Romeo’s return
Compare and Contrast: Hamlet - Act 4, Scene 4 (video)
Hamlet contemplates avenging his father’s murder at the hands of his uncle
Compare and Contrast: Hamlet - Act 3, Scene 4 (video)
Hamlet berates Gertrude for marrying his uncle so soon after the death of his father
Compare and Contrast: Julius Caesar - Act 3, Scene 2 (“Friends, Romans, countrymen”) (video)
Marc Antony addresses the crowd to deliver a funeral oration for Caesar
Compare and Contrast: Julius Caesar - Act 3, Scene 2 (“Romans, countrymen, and lovers!”) (video)
Brutus addresses the crowd, explaining his reasons for killing Caesar
Compare and Contrast: Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 3 (video)
Three witches reappear with a prophecy for Macbeth’s future
Compare and Contrast: Macbeth - Act 2, Scene 1 (video)
The famous scene where Macbeth sees an apparition of a dagger
Compare and Contrast: Macbeth - Act 2, Scene 2 (video)
Macbeth returns from murdering Duncan in his chamber
Activate Series
Ready-made materials including quizzes, relationship maps, and plot summary worksheets for teaching a specific text. For an editable version, select the Word Doc.