The Road

Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist and playwright. He has written over ten novels and has received the Pulitzer Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction for his novel The Road (2006). The adaptation of his 2005 novel No Country For Old Men, won four Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. McCarthy received a National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award for his 1992 novel All the Pretty Horses, which - along with The Road - was also made into a motion picture, the latter adapted by award-winning playwright Joe Penhall. Joe Penhall's plays include Some Voices (1994); Pale Horse (1995); In Love and Understanding (1997); The Bullet (1998), Blue/Orange (2000 - Evening Standard Best Play Award, the Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play and the 2001 Olivier Award for Best New Play), Haunted Child (2011), Birthday (2012) and Sunny Afternoon (2014). Paul Bunyan is a Drama Education consultant with many years of school and local authority experience across all phases. Ruth Moore is a Deputy Headteacher with many years of Leadership and Drama and English teaching experience.

Cormac McCarthy's novel was one of the best I've ever read. On reading the Penhall version it quickly becomes apparent that the desperate, post-apocalyptic emptiness of the original is unnervingly preserved whilst the sparse beauty of the dialogue does provide an uncluttered, ready-made script. NATE Classroom The emotional intensity of the novel shines through in this script which would make an excellent addition to any KS4 or KS5 curriculum. NATE Classroom For teachers, the detailed scheme of work devised by Paul Bunyan and Ruth Moore is - as we have come to expect from these two drama specialists - accessible, well-structured and full of excellent ideas for the classroom. NATE Classroom It uses the film or soundtrack as a focus and, under each of its 15 logically sequenced headings, there are learning activities, teaching points, resources and further suggestions for reflection, analysis and discussion... [it] is symptomatic of the thoroughness and intelligence of a scheme of work which would be easily mediated and enjoyed by both the grizzled practitioner and the shiniest NQT. The highest compliment that can be paid is that I'm now prepared to view the film. NATE Classroom [...] the visual descriptions are very clear...Extracts from it might make useful starting points for GCSE drama theme-based work... The activities themselves give a range of practical approaches to using the text in the classroom...On the whole a welcome addition for the English/media studies teacher. -- Ali Warren Teaching Drama

Cormac McCarthy's novel was one of the best I've ever read. On reading the Penhall version it quickly becomes apparent that the desperate, post-apocalyptic emptiness of the original is unnervingly preserved whilst the sparse beauty of the dialogue does provide an uncluttered, ready-made script. NATE Classroom