National Theatre Connections

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

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 itself.^[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

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

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

2012

^[6]

• 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

2011

• Bassett by James Graham^[7]
• 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

2009

• Blackout by Davey Anderson
• Dirty Dirty Princess by Georgia Fitch
• The Dummy Tree by Conor Mitchell
• A Handbag by Anthony Horowitz
• Heartbreak Beautiful by Christopher William Hill
• The Heights by Lisa McGee
• Six Parties by William Boyd
• Success by Nick Drake
• The Seance by Anthony Neilson
• The Things She Sees by Ben Power
• Trammel by Michael Lesslie
• The Vikings And Darwin by David Mamet

2008

• Scenes From Family Life by Mark Ravenhill
• A Vampire Story by Moira Buffini
• Theatre of Debate: Blackout by Davey Anderson inspired by the stories of a young person from Barnardo's, Glasgow
• He’s Talking by Nicholas Wright
• My Face by Nigel Williams
• Theatre of Debate: Big Hopes a verbatim play by Gary Owen inspired by an xl. group from The Princes Trust, Cardiff followed by Safe by Deborah Gearing inspired by Fairbridge Southampton
• Arden City by Timberlake Wertenbaker
• The Peach Child by Anna Furse and Little Angel Theatre
• Theatre of Debate directed and devised by Jeremy Weller with young people from Fairbridge Centres in Kennington and Hackney.
• The Book of Everything by Peter Tabern based on a novel by Guus Kuijer in the English translation by John Nieuwenhuizen
• Fugee by Abi Morgan.
• It Snows by Bryony Lavery and Frantic Assembly
• Burying Your Brother in the Pavement by Jack Thorne

2007

• A Bridge to the Stars by Henning Mankell
• A Year and A Day by Christina Reid
• Baby Girl by Roy Williams
• DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (aka DNA) by Dennis Kelly
• Red Sky by Bryony Lavery
• Ruckus in the Garden by David Farr
• Scary Play by Judith Johnson
• Show and Tell by Laline Paull
• Black Remote by Glyn Maxwell

2006

• Pass It On by Doug Lucie^[8]
• The Spider Men by Ursula Rani Sarma
• Broken Hallelujah by Sharman Macdonald
• Pack Up Your Troubles by Snoo Wilson
• Shut Up by Andrew Payne
• Feather Boy by Nicky Singer and Peter Tabern with lyrics by Don Black and music by Debbie Wiseman
• The Shoemaker's Incredible Wife by Federico Garcia Lorca
• The Miracle by Lin Coghlan
• School Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Daisy Campbell with Ken Campbell
• Liar by Gregory Burke

2005

• Seventeen by Michael Gow
• Blooded by Isabel Wright
• Burn by Deborah Gearing
• Chatroom by Enda Walsh
• Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill
• Just by Ali Smith
• Lunch In Venice by Nick Dear
• Mugged by Andrew Payne
• Samurai by Geoffrey Case
• Through The Wire a musical by Catherine Johnson

2004

• The Musicians by Patrick Marber^[9]
• Discontented Winter :House Remix by Bryony Lavery
• Dead End by Letizia (translated by Luca Scarlini and Aleks Sierz)
• Headstrong by April de Angelis
• The Willow Pattern by Judith Johnson
• Moonfleece by Philip Ridley
• Eclipse by Simon Armitage
• Where I Come From: Scenes From Abroad by Mike Williams and Richard Nelson
• Boat Memory by Laline Paull
• Bedbug:The Musical by Snoo Wilson with music by Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt

2003

• Brokenville by Philip Ridley
• The Crossing Path by Maya Chowdhry
• Dust by Sarah Daniels
• The Ice Palace by Lucinda Coxon
• An Island Far From Here by Laura Ruohonen
• Moontel Six by Constance Congdon
• Multiplex by Christopher William Hill
• Purple by Jon Fosse
• The Queen Must Die by David Farr
• Totally Over You by Mark Ravenhill

2002

• Illyria (play) by Bryony Lavery
• The Actor by Horton Foote
• The Bear Table by Julian Garner
• The Exam by Andy Hamilton
• Gold by Timothy Mason,mel Marvin
• Lady Cill, Lady Wad, Lady Lurve, Lady God by Kay Adshead
• Nuts by Fausto Paravidino, Luca Scarlini and Zachery James Kinney
• Olive by Tasmin Oglesby
• Starstone by Christian Martin
• Take-Away by Jackie Kay
• Team Spirit by Judy Upton

2001

• After Juliet by Sharman MacDonald
• Electric Halos by Helen Adams
• Emperors and Clowns by Chris Barton
• Happy Endings devised by Danny Parker and Nigel Williams
• Human Puppets devised by Theatre Royal Bath Young People’s Theatre company
• Kids are from Mars devised by the London Bubble company
• Lagna by Jez Simons
• Les Juifs de Salonique…
• A Peasant of El Salvador by Peter Gould, Stephen Stearns, adapted by Mick Fitzmaurice
• Sunnyside by Neill Morton
• Ticking by Mari Binnie
• Time on Fire by Timothy Mason
• Too Too Tight devised by the Chichester Festival Youth Theatre Street Art Company

1999

• After Juliet by Sharman McDonald
• Can You Keep a Secret? by Winsome Pinnock
• Devil in Drag by Dario Fo
• Don't Eat Little Charlie by Tankred Dorst with Ursula Ehler
• Early Man by Hannah Vincent
• Friendly Fire by Peter Gill
• Gizmo by Alan Ayckbourn
• King of the Castle by Christina Reid
• Pilgrimage by Paul Goetzee
• Taking Breath by Sarah Daniels

1997

• Asleep Under The Dark Earth by Sian Evans^[10]
• The Chysalids adapted by David Harrower from the novel by John Wyndham
• Cuba by Liz Lochhead
• Dog House by Gina Moxley
• Eclipse by Simon Armitage
• The Golden Door by David Ashton
• In the Sweat by Naomi Wallace and Bruce McLeod
• More Light by Bryony Lavery
• Shelter by Simon Bent
• Sparkleshark by Philip Ridley
• Travel Club and Boy Soldier by Wole Soyinka
• The Ultimate Fudge by Jane Coles

References