The National Theatre has announced that ten youth theatre companies and school groups from across the UK are set to stage new plays in the Dorfman Theatre as part of its 2023 Connections Festival.
The annual nationwide youth theatre festival celebrates young talent, with 5,600 young people aged 13-19 performing one of the ten new plays from established and emerging playwrights.
The productions explore themes of justice, grief, love, teamwork, friendship, rural life and the climate emergency. The programme of performances are listed below.
|
Date |
Time |
Play |
Performed by |
|
Tuesday 20 June |
7pm |
(Circle Dreams Around) The Terrible, Terrible Past by Simon Longman |
Ilkley Players Greenroom, Ilkley, West Yorkshire |
|
Tuesday 20 June |
8.30pm |
Old Times by Molly Taylor |
Bourne Academy, Bourne, Lincolnshire |
|
Wednesday 21 June |
7pm |
Is This Good Enough? by Avaes Mohammad |
Eastbury Drama Group, Barking, London |
|
Wednesday 21 June |
8.30pm |
The Heights by Lisa McGee |
St Brendan's Sixth Form College, Bristol |
|
Thursday 22 June |
7pm |
Tuesday by Alison Carr |
Plough Youth Theatre, Torrington, North Devon |
|
Thursday 22 June |
8.30pm |
Innocent Creatures by Leo Butler |
The Boaty Theatre Company, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire |
|
Friday 23 June
|
7pm |
Model Behaviour by Jon Brittain |
St Thomas the Apostle School and Sixth Form, Peckham, London |
|
Friday 23 June |
8.30pm |
Samphire by Shamser Sinha |
Aberystwyth Arts Centre Youth Theatre, Aberystwyth, Wales |
|
Saturday 24 June |
7pm |
Strangers Like Me by Ed Harris |
The Crescent Arts Youth Theatre, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
|
Saturday 24 June |
8.30pm |
Is My Microphone On? by Jordan Tannahill |
Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Canterbury, Kent |
Rufus Norris, director of the National Theatre said, ‘Watching talented young people from across the nation bring to life these new plays through the Connections Festival is a highlight of the National Theatre calendar. We hope all those who have participated this year have been inspired by what they have created and how they have created it.
'I can’t wait to see the Dorfman Theatre bursting with the talent from the selected ten groups as they represent the passion and imagination of young people today.’