The development of digital technology and the participatory culture it engenders presents challenges to secondary school English and drama teachers keen to expose their students to the pleasures and rewards of live theatre. Within Scardamalia's notion of the "knowledge building community" (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994, 2006; Scardamalia, Bransford, Kozma, & Quellmalz, 2012; Scardamalia, 2002), however, is a framework by which teachers can use educational technology to create authentic, theatre knowledge-building communities that allow students to view themselves as engaged participants in the culture of live theatre, while learning valuable 21st century skills.