We’re excited to share the brand-new Classroom Companion for Answer Key by Kyle Olson—a sharp, subversive, and darkly funny play about student rebellion, institutional power, and the high cost of speaking up.
Answer Key is part high school caper, part character study, and part moral tangle. What begins as a prank—a group of students sending out the answers to a test—spirals into something deeper: a story about loyalty, betrayal, visibility, and what fairness really looks like when the rules are stacked against you.
And now, with our comprehensive companion guide, it’s more teachable than ever.
💼 What’s Inside?
The Answer Key Classroom Companion includes:
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Pre- and Post-Reading Questions – To spark rich discussion around themes of justice, identity, and the gray areas of morality.
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Character Analysis & Creative Projects – Designed to help students dig deep into motive, strategy, and emotional subtext—with plenty of performance and writing options.
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Symbolism & Thematic Exploration – What does the Excel Medal really represent? Why is the office such a pressure cooker? How do small props carry big emotional weight?
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Historical & Cultural Context – From student protest movements to academic meritocracy, students will place the play in conversation with real-world systems.
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Pop Culture & Text Connections – Includes curated book and film pairings, from Frankie Landau-Banks to Ocean’s Eleven, perfect for classroom comparisons.
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Assessment Ideas & Reflection Prompts – Thoughtful, flexible tools to help students personalize their learning and make meaning of the story’s emotional stakes.
🎭 Why Answer Key?
This play invites students to think—and feel—deeply. It doesn’t hand out easy heroes or villains. Instead, it asks questions: What does it mean to do the right thing when you know it’ll cost you? Who gets rewarded in systems that claim to be fair? And how do we respond when the people we trust let us down?
For high school educators, Answer Key offers a flexible cast, a single location, and smart, dialogue-driven scenes perfect for performance or close reading.
The companion makes it easy to integrate into your classroom—with activities that are meaningful, accessible, and honestly, fun.
📥 Free with Script Purchase
The companion is available free with every script purchase—ready to print, share, or adapt for your students.