Since its launch by the National Theatre in March 2004, stagework.org.uk has won a number of awards. As well as BAFTAs in Learning and Factual categories, it received the World Summit Award for e-learning in 2005 and now it is short-listed for a BETT award. So what is so special about this site?
The first thing to say is that it is great fun. Hours swiftly pass as one follows different journeys picking up information about rehearsal processes, about adapting books for the stage or issues raised by plays, about career options in the theatre or teaching ideas suggested by the productions under discussion. Secondly, navigation through an enormous variety of diverse material is very straightforward. Different users will be looking for different things, from exam help to a reminder of an exciting evening in the theatre. Few will be disappointed and most will find themselves enjoyably following unexpected routes. Theatre studies students will be particularly pleased with what is on offer.
The site is growing all the time. The National Theatre’s show for young people, Coram Boy, is the latest addition, joining other NT productions - Henry V, His Dark Materials (an adaptation of Philip Pullman’s trilogy) and The UN Inspector, an updated version of Gogol’s Government Inspector. Beasts and Beauties, a Bristol Old Vic production based on fairy tales, and Birmingham Rep’s Crucible are in there too. All have a wealth of backstage material with video clips of interviews with directors, writers and actors, and shots of rehearsals, usually closed to anyone not immediately involved.
The home page presents all the productions on the site and the ways in which they can be explored, through Productions, Issues and People, with links to ideas for teachers and related events. Within Productions, Peter Reynolds, NT education advisor and head of the school of arts at Roehampton, University of Surrey, provides a detailed rehearsal diary. This is the story of the development of a production, explaining the decisions and changes made by all the people involved - writer, director, designer, actors.
Here is a typical example. If you choose The Crucible on the home page and then click on Rehearsals, the page provides a rehearsal diary entry and 11 video choices ranging from Challenges in the Play, to Can Betty Fly?. Each clip lasts a few minutes and its content is summed up in text. For instance, click on Can Betty Fly? and actress Bethan Cecil describes how she decided that the child she plays really did believe she could fly and explains the effect of this on her acting and later choices in the play. Also on that first Rehearsals page is a drop-down Links menu and a choice of People and Issues. The drop-down menu offers 21 options, from set-design to further diary entries. Go into People to meet producer Jenny King and find careers advice. Under Issues, as with other productions, more philosophical questions, cross-referenced to diary and interviews, come under the spotlight.
One of the attractions of the site is its variety. Peter Reynolds is not afraid to include quite long pieces of text (which might usefully be printed out for class discussion), but it never seems burdensome and mixes well with other more visual material. Young people will enjoy the exploration, while teachers - whether looking for English and drama, citizenship or religious education ideas - will be pleased with the options. That’s if they can stop playing long enough. How do you torture a witch in His Dark Materials? What does Adrian Lester as Henry V make of those famous speeches? One thing leads to another...
