The experts in the room: Empowering multilingual students with Performing International Plays workshops in English schools

This article presents a transcript of a public conversation about Performing International Plays (PIP), an applied theatre project based in England that brings contemporary international drama and theatre translation into secondary schools. Founded in response to the marginalization of international plays in translation and normative monolingualism within English theatre and education, PIP fosters multilingual spaces through “translationality” – a playful engagement with multilingualism through drama. The interview documents a year-long collaboration between PIP and a London academy serving a highly diverse student population, highlighting the impact of PIP workshops on students’ oracy, confidence, engagement, and sense of identity. Framed by an original introduction and conclusion, the article situates PIP within wider global conversations on language survival, revitalization, and reawakening through youth-centered creative practice. Drawing conceptual links to Indigenous scholarship on linguistic resurgence and decolonizing education, the article argues that young people’s engagement with international stories and theatre translation can empower multilingual students with migrant backgrounds, often intersecting with Indigenous and ancestral languages reawakening. The article reflects on the notion of “translationality” as a pedagogical commitment that can inspire applied theatre practitioners interested in challenging monolingual norms, empowering linguistically marginalized young people and foster intercultural understanding.