Play tackles higher education challenges

David Lane (Drama 2001) is a playwright and dramaturg but has also spent part of his career lecturing at Exeter and other UK universities.

He first started developing SELLOUT seven years ago, following conversations he had with students and academics about the pressures of teaching versus research commitments, coupled with his interest in Government policies towards higher education.

David subsequently took part in a playwrights’ development course at the Hall for Cornwall and grew his ideas further. He received 60 replies to a questionnaire he sent across the UK and also carried out one-to-one in depth interviews with lecturers. He also read the higher education trade press prolifically.

“It has been the longest gestation period for any play I’ve written, and obviously the landscape of HE has changed over the last six or seven years in terms of funding, student fees, how research is measured and assessed and so forth,” said David.

“But in returning to the play in earnest over the last year, I still found - to my relief in some ways - that many of the core struggles around consumerism versus scholarship, research versus teaching and attainment of numbers versus attainment of new knowledge were still relevant.

SELLOUT, which tells the story of a fictional lecturer called Frank, will premiere at the Exeter Northcott on Friday 24 January and will raise funds for the theatre.

Upstart Theatre, the company presenting the play at the Northcott is now making plans for a national tour.