Young people across the North East of England are taking part in nationwide celebrations of National Theatre Connections’ 30th anniversary
To celebrate 30 years of Connections, the National Theatre’s annual landmark youth theatre festival, young people from across the North East will perform new plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from 7-11 April as part of their Connections Festival.
The ten participating youth theatre groups are Bright Minds Youth Theatre, Newcastle Performance Academy Acting Company, Jarrow School, The Witham Youth Theatre, Gateshead College, River Tees Secondary Academy, Stockton Riverside College, Carmel Performing Arts, Theatre Royal Youth Company, and Page2stage performing Arts.
As part of the nationwide celebration, over 5,500 young people from over 270 companies and schools across the UK will perform one of ten specially commissioned plays for young people at theatres nationwide. Connections champions the power of youth theatre, bringing together some of the UK’s most exciting contemporary writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow.
Ten youth groups will then be selected to perform their play on the Dorfman stage at the National Theatre Connections Festival in June, representing the vast amount of talent across the UK.
Marking the milestone 30th anniversary of the programme, these young people join over 125,000 people nationwide who have taken part in Connections over the past three decades, including esteemed alumni such as David Oyelowo, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Callum Scott Howells and Keira Knightley. Former playwrights include Jack Thorne, Chris Bush, Lenny Henry, James Graham and Alice Birch.