Connections is the National Theatre’s annual festival of new plays for youth theatres and schools. The 2014 Connections cycle involved:
10 Writers
230 Youth Theatre Companies
5,000 Young People
684 Performances
26 Partner Theatres
25,000 Audience Members
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. In 2013, each company had the experience of performing in a leading regional theatre, at one of the Connections festivals around the country.
Connections aims to:
inspire 13-19 year olds with high-quality new playwriting
give companies the knowledge, skills and confidence to bring the plays to life
involve a wide range of young companies, giving additional support where needed
encourage young people to get involved in all aspects of theatre making
Join us for NT Connections 2015 at The Lyceum.
VIKKI WILSON, ASSOCIATE DRAMA ARTIST, THE LYCEUM
YOUTH THEATRE, PERFORMING CELEBRATING CONNECTIONS (DEVISED) – LYT DISCOVER,
CRAIGROYSTON CAST
What
was the inspiration for this performance?
We
were given the theme of ‘celebration‘, and so started thinking about the
various milestones and events in life we enjoy – from the trivial to the
poignant. Then we had the idea of ranking these and our show concept developed
from there.
How
did you become interested in making performance?
I
joined a youth theatre at a very young age and discovered the wonders of
performance. As I became older, I started seeing real value in creating my own
work as drama became not only an outlet for me socially but also forced me to
think about my role within wider society.
Was
your process typical of the way that you make a performance?
Certainly
– but in some ways it was much quicker – the young people were very keen to
‘build’ as quickly as possible and so worked at an alarmingly fast rate!
What
do you hope that the audience will experience?
Moments
of joy, sadness and nostalgia.
What
strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?
Once
we came up with our framing devise (a countdown) the rest fell into place – we
were conscious that we had to manipulate certain events in order to vary the
pictures and content on stage.
Do
you see your work within any particular tradition?
A
lot of my work has verbatim influences and this is the case for our Connections
performance. Many of the moments and stories the audience see on stage have
been informed by the cast’s experiences.
DEBS
HAHN, WHALE DRAMA ARTIST, LYCEUM YOUTH
THEATRE, PERFORMING CELEBRATING CONNECTIONS (DEVISED)_– LYT DISCOVER, WHALE
CAST
What was the inspiration for
this performance?
The meeting
point between the ideas of the group and my ideas. The young people have a lot
of thoughts about they place they are in at the moment, and I, as a (kind of!)
grown up have my own ideas from a different perspective. I think it's really
interesting when they introduce me to their ideas, and hopefully they will be
interested in hearing mine too!
How did you become interested in
making performance?
Again
I think it's all about sharing ideas, and performance is a great way for people
to do that. And making something together as a group, which you get to share
with other people, who clap at the end is pretty exciting! I'm a pretty active
person, so I like to do as well as think - making performance is kind of like
"doing" the ideas.
Was your process
typical of the way that you make a performance?
This
is only a short piece - if we had longer I would spend more time exploring
ideas and trying things out which may not end up in the performance. In a
shorter piece I would aim to create a structure which allows everyone a voice
and a moment.
What do you hope that the
audience will experience?
Young
people's voices on stage.
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