Christmas
drama workshops
✓ Reception - Year 6
✓ Led by a professional actor-facilitator
✓ Christmas, Literacy
✓ In person or online
Join Scrooge in a workshop based on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, or explore the poem ‘The Night Before Christmas’
Bring the Christmas spirit into your primary school with a drama workshop exploring a beloved Christmas tale. Choose between A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and the 19th century poem ‘The Night Before Christmas’.
These Story Explorer workshops use drama to explore the characters and stories of your chosen tale. Join Scrooge on his adventures through Victorian London and experience his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Or reimagine the arrival of St. Nicholas, his sleigh, and his eight tiny reindeer.
Available in person or online, the workshops are run class-by-class as the children work alongside an expert drama facilitator. Using drama techniques drawn from professional theatre, they will become immersed in the story’s world as they inhabit the characters, recreate the 19th century setting, and explore the themes of the tale.
Created by:
Abigail Rosser and Alistair Hoyle
Find out more about our creatives.
A Christmas Carol
Explore Charles Dickens' classic tale of Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future In Victorian London. Will Scrooge change his miserly ways, or is he doomed to a future of gloom and ‘bah humbug’ forever?
The Night Before Christmas
“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…” First published in 1823 as ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’, the beloved poem takes place on Christmas Eve and is one of the key inspirations behind the concept of Father Christmas and contemporary festive celebrations.
To accompany the workshop based on A Christmas Carol, we are also offering a digital pack of theatre-inspired collaborative projects to extend the learning around the classic text before and after the workshop.
Created by professional theatre-makers, each project within the pack uses a different theatrical element, such as design, sound, song or drama, to provide a springboard for creative writing in the classroom. For more information visit our dedicated Inspiring Writing Toolkit webpage.
- We work with children in their usual classes.
- Sessions are 35 - 60 minutes for EYFS and KS1.
- Sessions are 40 - 90 minutes for KS2.
- Online sessions are up to 50 minutes each.
- We can work with up to six classes per day.
- To work with fewer classes we can visit for just an afternoon or morning session.
- To work with more than seven classes we can visit across multiple days.
- We will send you a suggested timetable when you enquire and we can work with you to create a timetable that works for your school day.
- To think critically about the story and empathise with the characters by experiencing it first-hand.
- To explore different ways of communicating, both verbally and physically.
- To develop creative ownership and the imagination by working alongside a professional actor-facilitator.
- Older students also have the opportunity for debate and discussion on the morality of the story.
Online workshops are available year-round for individual classes or up to six classes per day, with sessions running up to 50 minutes each.
These are led by the same professional facilitators who deliver our in person workshops, and are delivered live-on-screen through video conferencing software via your projector or whiteboard.
Your school will need to ensure that we can see and hear the children by webcam, and we offer a test call with you on the day of the visit. The class teacher or TA will need to assist at key points in the session and also with regard to any behaviour management required.
You can read more information about our live-on-screen workshops on our FAQs page.
Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Try our FAQs page, or send an enquiry and our friendly box office team will help!
There’s plenty of research* showing that drama in the classroom has benefits for the development of language. Role play in particular has been identified as a valuable tool for building vocabulary in younger children. Drama is great for oral literacy and storytelling for when children are at a pre-writing age and for when they are developing their writing skills.