NATIONAL THEATRE CONNECTIONS

I had the pleasure of producing National Theatre Connections between 2011 - 2015. 

Connections began over 20 years ago when teachers and directors told the National Theatre that they wanted exciting and challenging new plays for young actors. Since then the NT has commissioned and published more than 200 plays for Connections, giving young people aged 13-19 across the UK and Ireland access to the very best new writing for theatre.

Connections gives young people experience of professional theatre-making. Their experience mirrors that of a company producing a new play in any theatre in the country. They create marketing campaigns, design sets and costumes, operate lighting and sound boards, stage-manage their performances. Every year each company has the experience of performing in a leading regional theatre, at one of the Connections festivals around the country. 

Each year the Connections team travels the length and breadth of the country to support and encourage the participants – the drama teachers and youth theatre directors who take on the challenge of staging a new play, and the young theatre companies. I was thrilled by the skill, creativity, commitment and passion that go into each production, often on a shoestring budget and a rehearsal schedule carved out around school commitments.

nationaltheatre.org.uk/connections

I produced and help commission the following plays:

2011

  • Bassett by James Graham

  • The Beauty Manifesto by Nell Leyshon

  • Children of Killers by Katori Hall

  • Cloud Busting by Helen Blakeman adapted from the novel by Malorie Blackman

  • Frank & Ferdinand by Samuel Adamson

  • Gap by Alia Bano

  • Gargantua by Carl Grose

  • Shooting Truth by Molly Davies

  • Those Legs by Noel Clarke

  • Too Fast by Douglas Maxwell

2012

  • Victim Sidekick Boyfriend Me by Hilary Bell

  • Socialism Is Great by Anders Lustgarten

  • So You Think You're A Superhero? by Paven Virk

  • Prince of Denmark by Michael Lesslie

  • The Ritual by Samir Yazbek

  • Little Foot by Craig Higginson

  • Journey To X by Nancy Harris

  • The Grandfathers by Rory Mullarkey

  • Generation Next by Meera Syal

  • Alice By Heart by Steven Sater & Duncan Sheik

2013

  • The Guffin by Howard Brenton

  • Mobile Phone Show by Jim Cartwright

  • What Are They Like? by Lucinda Coxon

  • We Lost Elijah by Ryan Craig

  • I'm Spilling My Heart Out Here by Stacey Gregg

  • Tomorrow I'll Be Happy by Jonathan Harvey

  • Soundclash by Lenny Henry

  • Don't Feed the Animals by Jemma Kennedy

  • Ailie and the Alien by Morna Pearson

  • Forty-Five Minutes by Anya Reiss

2014

  • A Letter to Lacey by Catherine Johnson

  • Angels by Pauline McLynn

  • A Shop Selling Speech by Sabrina Mahfouz

  • Hearts by Luke Norris

  • Heritage by Dafydd James

  • Horizon by Matt Hartley

  • Pronoun by Evan Placey

  • Same by Deborah Bruce

  • The Wardrobe by Sam Holcroft

  • Tomorrow by Simon Vinnicombe

2015

  • Drama, Baby by Jamie Brittain

  • Hood by Katherine Chandler

  • The Boy Preference by Elinor Cook and performed

  • The Edelweiss Pirates by Ayub Khan Din

  • Follow, Follow by Katie Douglas and performed

  • The Accordion Shop by Cush Jumbo

  • Hacktivists by Ben Ockrent

  • Hospital Food by Eugene O'Hare

  • Remote by Stef Smith

  • The Crazy Sexy Cool Girls' Fan Club by Sarah Solemani