Written specifically for GCSE students by academics in the field, the Methuen Drama GCSE Guides conveniently gather indispensable resources and tips for successful understanding and writing all in one place, preparing students to approach their exams with confidence.
Key features include a critical commentary of the play with extensive, clearly labelled analyses on themes, characters and context. They take studying drama even further with sections on dramatic technique, critical reception, related works, fascinating behind-the-scenes interviews with playwrights, directors or actors, and a helpful glossary of dramatic terms.
Unmatched as a theatrical response to the First World War, R. C. Sherriff's Journey's End focuses on the experience of soldiers and the conditions in which they fought and died through a socially diverse regiment of English soldiers hiding in trenches in France.
Carefully following the requirements of GCSE English Literature assessment objectives, these studies include expert advice on how to write about modern drama. With featured activities for group study and independent work, they are versatile and valuable to students and teachers alike.
Andrew Maunder is Reader in Victorian Studies at the University of Hertfordshire. He is the author of biographies of Bram Stoker, Wilkie Collins (with Graham Law) and British Theatre and the Great War. He is the editor of the Pickering and Chatto anthologies Varieties of Women's Sensation Fiction and British Literature of World War I. He runs the World War I Theatre Project, which revives plays of 1914-1919 for modern audiences.
Matthew Nichols graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2003 and has been teaching and leading outstanding Drama and Performing Arts departments for over a decade. Matthew also has extensive experience at a senior level with several exam boards, and was responsible for writing one of the reformed GCSE qualifications in Drama. In addition, Matthew works with schools, colleges, universities and theatres across the country. Matthew is a successful and sought after Drama education consultant, and was one of the founders of Drama Defined, which specialises in delivering high quality Drama education courses to staff and students. Matthew is currently Head of Drama at Manchester Grammar School. You can reach him on Twitter @matthew_drama.