How do we move literature from the page into the body, the voice, and the lived experience of our students? Literature in Action is a dynamic workshop inspired by the IB’s Literature and Performance curriculum. It is designed to equip educators with practical performance-based strategies to deepen literary understanding. This workshop bridges literary analysis and dramatic practice, demonstrating how performance techniques—such as hot seating, tableaux, choral speaking, and scripted adaptation—can unlock character motivation, theme, context, and language. Using extracts from widely taught texts and plays (from Shakespeare to contemporary fiction), participants will actively explore how embodiment, voice, and staging choices sharpen critical thinking and textual interpretation. Teachers will leave with adaptable lesson frameworks, rehearsal-style questioning techniques, and assessment strategies that lean towards performance that align with curriculum goals while energising classroom engagement. No prior drama experience is required—only a willingness to step into the ‘drama’ of the written work.
