Nominated for Outstanding Drama Education Resource at the 2024 Music & Drama Education Awards

A first-of-its-kind anthology, Beyond The Canon’s Plays for Young Activists combines plays, toolkits, and an online guide to empower young people into activism.

With award-winning plays from the UK’s most revolutionary female writers of colour, as well as bespoke multimedia learning guides, this collection offers young global activists aged 16+, as well as teachers and creatives at any level, the opportunity to diversify their education and enhance their understanding of politically driven plays, world politics and social justice.

Unique in how it amplifies these selected award-winning plays by incorporating learning guides that accommodate different learning styles (be they visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinaesthetic), Beyond The Canon dares readers to take a deeper dive into the world of the play, be inspired by the themes and provocations and use the anthology to evolve into the ultimate activist.

The plays include:
Muhammad Ali and Me by Mojisola Adebayo
A Museum in Baghdad by Hannah Khalil
Acceptance by Amy Ng

With resources like top tips on creating a safe space, practical drama challenges and games, interviews with the writers, research guides and activism test sheets, Beyond The Canon’s Plays for Young Activists will spark the imagination of any and all readers, likely inspiring the next Mojisola Adebayo, Hannah Khalil and Amy Ng.


The Fir Tree

by Hannah Khalil

Published 20 December 2021
I want to know what the other trees know
Go where the other trees go
Where do they go?

Writer Hannah Khalil collaborates with Shakespeare’s Globe in London in this magical re-imagining and re-wilding of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale The Fir Tree.

Written for just four actors this inventive and dynamic adaptation harnesses all of the joy of the Christmas season and reminds us that we can all make a difference in taking care of our planet. Music, song and storytelling combine in this accessible and enchanting adaptation that is suitable for families and young people to perform and read together in a story of hope.

This edition was published to coincide with the premiere at the Globe Theatre, London, in December 2021.

The Wood of Words

by Hannah Khalil and Chris White

Published 12 July 2023

Friendship makes us fresh.
And doth beget new courage in our breasts.

A new play for young people and schools, created from Shakespeare’s works.

In this wood of words, a band of newcomers arrive to witness banishments, storms, unhappy endings, reunions, and murder most foul... and try to make sense of it all. This unique and thoughtful adaptation for young performers of several of Shakespeare’s works is co-written by director Chris White and award-winning playwright Hannah Khalil, in honour of the 400th anniversary of the First Folio this year.

The Wood of Words was created as part of the Associate Schools Programme (the RSC’s long term partnership programme with schools and theatre partners). This edition was published to coincide with the Playmaking Festival at the RSC, in July 2023.


National Theatre Connections 2024 draws together ten new plays for young people to perform, from some of the UK's most exciting and popular playwrights. These are plays for a generation of theatre-makers who want to ask questions, challenge assertions and test the boundaries, and for those who love to invent and imagine a world of possibilities.

The plays offer young performers an engaging and diverse range of material to perform, read or study. Touching on themes like trans-rights, the mental health crisis, colonial history, disability activism, and climate change, the collection provides topical, pressing subject matter for students to explore in their performance.

This 2024 anthology represents the full set of ten plays offered by the National Theatre 2024 Festival (eight brand-new plays, and two returning favourites), as well as comprehensive workshop notes that give insights and inspiration for building characters, running rehearsals and staging a production.