From the 20-24 June 2023 the National Theatre is celebrating youth theatre as ten youth theatre companies and school groups from across the UK will stage new plays in the Dorfman Theatre as part of its 2023 Connections Festival.
The annual nationwide youth theatre festival, now in its 28th year, celebrates young talent with 5,600 young people aged 13-19 performing one of ten new plays from established and emerging playwrights including Lisa McGee (Derry Girls) and Shamser Sinha (Three Sat Under the Banyan Tree). These ten plays, commissioned by Connections for young people to perform, explore themes of justice, grief, love, teamwork, friendship, rural life, the end of the world and the climate emergency.
264 groups have had the opportunity to perform their selected play at one of 36 leading partner venues across the UK, from Pitlochry in Scotland to Plymouth in Southwest England, with young people involved in all aspects of the theatre making process both on and off stage. This includes getting involved with costume, lighting and set design.
To represent the vast range of young talent across the UK, ten companies are invited to perform on the Dorfman stage at the National Theatre. The productions at this year’s festival are:
| Date | Time | Play | Performed by |
| Tuesday 20 June | 7pm | (Circle Dreams Around) The Terrible, Terrible Past by Simon Longman | Ilkley Players Greenroom, Ilkley, West Yorkshire |
| Tuesday 20 June | 8.30pm | Old Times by Molly Taylor | Bourne Academy, Bourne, Lincolnshire |
| Wednesday 21 June | 7pm | Is This Good Enough? by Avaes Mohammad | Eastbury Drama Group, Barking, London |
| Wednesday 21 June | 8.30pm | The Heights by Lisa McGee | St Brendan’s Sixth Form College, Bristol |
| Thursday 22 June | 7pm | Tuesday by Alison Carr | Plough Youth Theatre, Torrington, North Devon |
| Thursday 22 June | 8.30pm | Innocent Creatures by Leo Butler | The Boaty Theatre Company, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire |
| Friday 23 June | 7pm | Model Behaviour by Jon Brittain | St Thomas the Apostle School and Sixth Form, Peckham, London |
| Friday 23 June | 8.30pm | Samphire by Shamser Sinha | Aberystwyth Arts Centre Youth Theatre, Aberystwyth, Wales |
| Saturday 24 June | 7pm | Strangers Like Me by Ed Harris | Crescent Arts Youth Theatre, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Saturday 24 June | 8.30pm | Is My Microphone On? by Jordan Tannahill | Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Canterbury, Kent |
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre said, “Watching talented young people from across the nation bring to life these new plays through the Connections Festival is a highlight of the National Theatre calendar. We hope all those who have participated this year have been inspired by what they have created and how they have created it. I can’t wait to see the Dorfman Theatre bursting with the talent from the selected ten groups as they represent the passion and imagination of young people today.”
All performances will be captioned.
Tickets are £5 each, or £8 for both shows each evening and are on sale now. To book tickets visit the NT Website.
