National Theatre Connections

Last updated

Connections (also referred to as New Connections and formerly Shell Connections and BT Connections) is the Royal National Theatre in London's annual youth theatre festival. [1] It was founded in 1995 and sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell until 2007 when the Bank of America took over the sponsorship. The plays are also published by the National Theatre each year.

Contents

Scheme

The National Theatre annually commissions ten plays from established playwrights which are performed by youth theatre groups across the UK. Groups are invited to perform at Connections Festivals held at a professional theatre in their area. A random performance group from each play is then performed at the end of the Festival at the National Theatre. [2]

Professional productions

Several of the specially commissioned Connection plays have been professionally produced at the National Theatre. In 1999 Sparkleshark was performed. In 2006 three were produced; Burn by Deborah Gearing, Chatroom by Enda Walsh and Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill were performed in 2006; [3] the latter two were revived in 2007 when they also toured. [4] In 2008 Baby Girl by Roy Williams, DNA by Dennis Kelly and The Miracle by Lin Coghlan also received professional productions in the Cottesloe. [5]

Commissioned plays

2022

2019

Source - [6]

2018

Source - [7]

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

[8]

2011

2009

2008

DNA

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Marber</span> English comedian, playwright, director

Patrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter.

Bryony Lavery is a British dramatist, known for her successful and award-winning 1998 play Frozen. In addition to her work in theatre, she has also written for television and radio. She has written books including the biography Tallulah Bankhead and The Woman Writer's Handbook, and taught playwriting at Birmingham University.

The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the Evening Standard newspaper. They are the West End's equivalent to Broadway's Drama Desk Awards.

In-yer-face theatre is a term used to describe a confrontational style and sensibility of drama that emerged in Great Britain in the 1990s. This term was borrowed by British theatre critic Aleks Sierz as the title of his book, In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today, first published by Faber and Faber in March 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Young Vic</span> Theatre in Waterloo, London

The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth.

Philip Ridley is an English storyteller working in a wide range of artistic media.

Sharman Macdonald is a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Ravenhill</span> English playwright, actor and journalist

Mark Ravenhill is an English playwright, actor and journalist.

Roy Samuel Williams is a British playwright.

<i>Sparkleshark</i> Play written by Philip Ridley

Sparkleshark is a stage play by Philip Ridley that was originally commissioned for the BTNational Connections, the UK National Theatre's youth theatre scheme in 1997. Sparkleshark had a professional run at the Royal National Theatre in 1999 followed by a tour in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Head Theatre</span> Oldest operating pub theatre in the UK on Upper Street, Islington, London

The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. It is the oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2021, Mark Ravenhill became Artistic Director and the theatre focusses on producing LGBTQ+ work, work that is joyful, irreverent, colourful and queer.

<i>The Storyteller Sequence</i>

The Storyteller Sequence is a series of one act dramas written for young people by Philip Ridley. The plays, all set in east London, use fairytale stories and theatrical conventions to reveal the traumas of their young protagonists. To date there are five plays in the sequence, although Ridley has intimated there will eventually be seven. The five written to date are Karamazoo, Fairytaleheart, Moonfleece, Sparkleshark and Brokenville; note that although this is not the order in which the plays were written and performed chronologically, it is the order Ridley intends the finished "sequence" to run.

Frozen is a play by Bryony Lavery that tells the story of the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl, Rhona Shirley. The play follows Rhona's mother and killer over the years that follow. They are linked by a doctor who is studying what causes men to commit such crimes. The themes of the play include emotional paralysis and forgiveness.

Melly Still is a British stage director, designer and choreographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Theatre Live</span>

National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London. It broadcasts live, by satellite, performances of their productions to cinemas and arts centres around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DugOut Theatre</span>

DugOut Theatre is a British theatre company founded in 2009 by students at the University of Leeds.

Robert Boulter is an English film, television and theatre actor. He had a guest-starring role on the television series The Bill in 2000. This was followed by a starring role in the play Herons written by Simon Stephens, which was performed in 2001 at the Royal Court Theatre. He had a guest role in the television series Judge John Deed in 2002. In 2004 Boulter landed a role as "Craig" in the episode "Teddy's Story" of the television series The Long Firm. He was cast in the 2005 he played Darren in the world premiere of the Philip Ridley play Mercury Fur, which was performed at the Drum Theatre in Plymouth and the Menier Chocolate Factory in London.

Theatre Centre is a UK-based theatre company touring new plays for young audiences aged 4 to 18. Founded in 1953 by Brian Way, the company has developed plays by writers including Lisa Evans, Noël Greig, Mike Kenny, Bryony Lavery, Leo Butler, Brendan Murray, Philip Osment, Manjinder Virk, Roy Williams and Benjamin Zephaniah. Theatre Centre is a member of Theatre for Young Audiences UK (TYA-UK), a network for makers and promoters of professional theatre for young audiences. Brian Way and Margaret Faulkes founded Theatre Centre in 1953. When they produced a shortened version of Dorothy L. Sayers’ The Man Born To Be King, the production inspired Sayers to donate £200 to help establish the company. The company's "initial aim was to provide a place where unemployed actors might meet and practise their art", Laurence Harbottle reported in 2006. "What it became was the launch pad for educational theatre in schools – and what Brian became, in the next half century, was the seminal influence on that movement, worldwide." Many of Theatre Centre's early plays were written by Brian Way himself. Way believed plays should be written for a specific age group., and "argued that the quality of performance deteriorates" when audience numbers increase. Theatre Centre productions were "presented informally on the floor of the school hall, in the round." Today, Theatre Centre shows tour to schools and venues around the country and the company has a focus on writers creating "exciting work for young audiences." Theatre Centre is a registered charity and is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge Theatre</span>

The Bridge Theatre is a commercial theatre near Tower Bridge in London that opened in October 2017. It was developed by Nick Starr and Nicholas Hytner as the home of the London Theatre Company, which they founded following their tenancy as executive director and artistic director, respectively, at the National Theatre.

References

  1. "Connections homepage" Archived 2012-12-06 at the Wayback Machine , National Theatre. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
  2. "NT Connections : FAQs : What Is It?". Archived from the original on 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  3. "National Theatre : Productions : Burn/Chatroom/Citizenship" . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  4. "National Theatre: Chatroom / Citizenship". Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  5. "National Theatre : Productions : Baby Girl, DNA, The Miracle" . Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  6. "Connections Plays - National Theatre". Archived from the original on 2020-01-05. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  7. "Connections Plays - National Theatre". Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  8. "Plays 2012 - Connections Plays 2012 - National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-08-26.
  9. "Connections Plays 2011 - Connections Plays - National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-11-29.
  10. "Shell Connections 2006: New Plays For Young People - Theatre for young people - National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17.
  11. "Shell Connections 2004 - Theatre for young people - National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17.
  12. Archived 'Karamazoo' webpage on the NT Shell Connections website
  13. "New Connections 1997: New Plays for young people - Theatre for young people - National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-09-19.