Terry Burns

Plain English is a vibrant one-man play, self-penned and self-performed by versatile character actor Terry Burns.

It follows the trials and tribulations of idealistic NQT Michael England on his first year on the job as an English teacher in a struggling inner city London school.

Despite his old school, control freak H.O.D Mr Cooper and his over bearing, grandiose and disapproving Mother, he is determined to make a difference in the lives of his, variously, disaffected, tormented and neglected students. But has Mr Cooper got a point? How dangerous is it to blur the lines between teacher, mentor and confidante? What is the role of a secondary school teacher in the modern age? Is it possible to be teacher and social worker, all rolled in to one?