Each year the National Theatre commissions ten new plays for young people to perform, bringing together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow.
Every year, 300 youth theatre companies and over 6,000 young people from every corner of the UK are producing a Connections play.
TRP are proud to host this year’s NT Connections in The Drum.
List of performances:
Tuesday 16th April 2024:
The Sad Club: Atlantic Coast Theatre Co. and Back in the Day: Lipson Cooperative Academy
Wednesday 17th April 2024:
Wind/Rush Generation(s): King Edward VI Community College and The Periodicals: Plympton Academy
Thursday 18th April 2024:
The Sad Club: Bodmin College and Replica: Callywith College
Friday 19th April 2024 :
Back In The Day: Pike and Musket and Shout: Fowey River Academy
Saturday 20th April 2024 :
Kiss/Marry/Push Off Cliff: Acorn Young People’s Theatre
Celebrating 29 years of Connections: Young Company
About the plays:
Shout: In a world full of words, how can Dana survive when she can’t speak? Dana has selective mutism, but that doesn’t stop her vivid imagination.
Kiss/Marry/Push off Cliff: A group of friends go camping – but after only one night, one of them is ostracised by the rest of the group and cast out into wilderness for something they said…or was it something they did…?
The Periodicals: Set in the near future – a group of young people live as a feral group of techno-savvy fugitives, living off-the land which is a rubbish dump.
Replica: Something happened on the school trip. One of the class has been replaced by an exact replica of themselves.
Back in the Day: Tasked with being their school’s well-being champions, a group of classmates unexpectedly time-travels to the 80s during an impromptu roller disco, uncovering hidden secrets.
The Sad Club: This is a musical about depression and anxiety. It’s a collection of monologues, songs and duologues from all over time and space.
Wind/Rush Generations: This is a play about the British Isles, its past and its present. Set in a senior common room, in a prominent university. A group of 1st-year undergraduates are troubled by a ‘noisy’ ghost.
National Theatre Connections has been producing high quality plays for young people for 29 years. 15 years ago, Theatre Royal Plymouth became been a partner venue on the national project and has since become an integral part of the NT Connections story.
Celebrating 29 years of Connections with Young Company: To celebrate this wonderful partnership, TRP’s Young Company will dig into the Connections archive and perform a selection of scenes from plays dating from 1995 to today. Directed by TRP’s Associate Directors, John Haidar and Malaika Kegode the Young Company present Connect: Celebrating 29 years of Connections
Important information
Performance age guidelines:
Shout – Recommended 14+ (Play explores experiences of anxiety disorders, moments with characters struggling with poor mental health)
Kiss/Marry/Push off Cliff – Recommended 14+ (Strong language, sexual references, scenes of drug use and distribution, scenes of alcoholism, and children drinking alcohol)
Back In The day – Recommended 13+ (One moment of strong language)
The Sad Club – Recommended 13+ (Themes of mental health, strong language, references to sex, underage drinking)
Wind/Rush Generations – Recommended 15+ (Racially-abusive language – including the ‘N word’, language describing the racially motivated abuse of power and violations and attacks, references to colonialism, references to genocide, references to Human Rights Abuse, allusions to gun violence)
Replica – Recommended 16+ Strong language (Some mildly violent language, used in a sci-fi context)
Celebrating 29 years of Connections with Young Company content warning – swearing & bereavement
Content information will become available for this production soon.
Please note – most of our productions feature flashing lights and loud sounds.
If you require this information prior to booking, please check back for updates or call our Box Office on 01752 267222.