Post by Honoured Guest on Apr 26, 2017 10:06:25 GMT
We had a thread on the old board where several enthusiasts for this annual event came out of the woodwork.
Youth theatre groups throughout the nation have each put on a play at their home base from a choice of ten newly written plays, all of less than an hour. They're all showing them now in a regional festival at a partner professional theatre, usually the one closest to them. So they get to mix with other groups at their festival and to participate in professionally-run workshops.
The final stage is that the NT selects one production of each of the ten plays for a showing in the national festival at the NT in the summer. This isn't the "best" production but it should respect the writer's intentions, and the lucky ten productions are chosen to represent the full range of all the groups who took part.
I recently saw five of the plays at a regional festival and I heartily recommend going along if any of the plays or writers or theatre groups particularly appeal to you. Or even just going blind and taking pot luck, although you might then strike unlucky with something not to your taste.
My personal favourite of the five I saw was Extremism by Anders Lustgarten - a good play, very well produced and well acted. I'd disliked the two plays by him I've previously seen, at the Royal Court and the RSC, but I could truly believe this one, set in a classroom and played convincingly by young people.
I also liked Zero for the Young Dudes! by Alistair McDowall, again with a strong production and performances, but which might not work so well without both.
Both these plays are very dark, but not gratuitously so.
Any other good experiences at NT Connections?
Youth theatre groups throughout the nation have each put on a play at their home base from a choice of ten newly written plays, all of less than an hour. They're all showing them now in a regional festival at a partner professional theatre, usually the one closest to them. So they get to mix with other groups at their festival and to participate in professionally-run workshops.
The final stage is that the NT selects one production of each of the ten plays for a showing in the national festival at the NT in the summer. This isn't the "best" production but it should respect the writer's intentions, and the lucky ten productions are chosen to represent the full range of all the groups who took part.
I recently saw five of the plays at a regional festival and I heartily recommend going along if any of the plays or writers or theatre groups particularly appeal to you. Or even just going blind and taking pot luck, although you might then strike unlucky with something not to your taste.
My personal favourite of the five I saw was Extremism by Anders Lustgarten - a good play, very well produced and well acted. I'd disliked the two plays by him I've previously seen, at the Royal Court and the RSC, but I could truly believe this one, set in a classroom and played convincingly by young people.
I also liked Zero for the Young Dudes! by Alistair McDowall, again with a strong production and performances, but which might not work so well without both.
Both these plays are very dark, but not gratuitously so.
Any other good experiences at NT Connections?