Jesse Meadows chatted to Emma Clarendon about bringing The Wardrobe Ensemble’s Education Education Education to the Trafalgar Studios, where it runs from 31 May to 29 June 2019, including a post-show Q&A chaired by Mates co-founder Terri Paddock on 3 June.
What’s Education Education Education about?
Education Education Education is set over the course of a day in a struggling secondary state school in 1997. New Labour have just had a landslide election win. It’s the last day of term and we follow the teachers as chaos ensues. Amongst many things, the play explores the ways state education has changed over the intervening years, fairness, history, nostalgia, the optimism of youth. It’s a love letter to the schools of the 1990s and asks big questions about a country in special measures, what we are taught and why, and where responsibility lies.
What was the process of developing the piece?
As a company, we devise our own shows. This means we start with a theme or idea that interests us and then research, develop and rehearse it