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Connections is the National Theatre’s annual, nationwide youth theatre festival. The programme is 30 years old and has a history of championing the talent of young people from across the UK. Every year, the Connections commissions ten new plays for young people to perform. The programme brings together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. In 23/24, we worked with over 250 youth companies from every corner of the UK.

As a partner theatre, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch are thrilled to be welcoming eight companies over three days to present their work.

Find out more about NT Connections

NT Connections Day 1 – Monday 5 May | 7pm | £6
No Regrets by Gary McNair, performed by Ormiston Rivers Academy
Fresh Air by Vickie Donoghue, performed by Platform Theatre Arts

NT Connections Day 2 – Tuesday 6 May | 7pm | £6
Fresh Air by Vickie Donoghue, performed by Arts Outburst
The Company of Trees by Jane Bodie, performed by Eastbury Drama Group

NT Connections Day 3 – Wednesday 7 May | 7pm | £6
Brain Play by Chloe Lawrence-Taylor and Paul Sirret, performed by Roding Valley High School
Fresh Ari by Vickie Donoghue, performed by Mulberry UTC

NT Connections Day 4 – Thursday 8 May | 7pm | £6
YOU 2.0 by Alys Metcalf, performed by New Vision Theatre Company | NCC Epping Campus
Saba’s Swim by Danusia Samal, performed by Shenfield High School 6th Form

The Plays
No Regrets by Gary McNair
Over the course of five years, playwright Gary McNair spoke to people at all stages and in all walks of life on the subject of regret. This play marks the results of those conversations. A collection of scenes from the silly to the profound, that charts our relationship with the things we should have done but didn’t and the things we shouldn’t have done, but did.

Suggested content guidance:
Recommended for ages 14+
Content warnings:
• Strong language
• Description of violence
• Mention of alcohol and addiction
• One scene of a mugging and stabbing
• References to death

Fresh Air by Vickie Donoghue
Students from a Pupil Referral group are made to go orienteering in what they discover is England’s most haunted woods. Stalked by eery ghost children determined to keep them there forever, they must learn to confront the here and now to unlock the key to their futures.

Suggested content guidance:
Recommended for ages 14+
Content warnings:
• Moderate language
• Mild gore & dread throughout
• Ghosts and supernatural elements throughout
• References to mental health

The Company of Trees by Jane Bodie
When new girl Willow moves into town, the popular gang at school don’t welcome her. But when gang leader, Taylor, has a spectacular gymnastic accident, leaving her bed-bound, her once loyal gang, begin to drop away.
Enter Willow, to share Taylor’s solitude, teach her about trees and poems that don’t rhyme and Taylor begins to heal. A play about bullying, bravery, the power of nature, finding friendship, loneliness and Hanoi the giant tortoise.

Suggested content guidance:
Recommended for ages 14+
Content warnings:
• Strong language
• Themes of bullying
• References to physical injury
• References to the loss of a parent
 
Brain Play by Chloe Lawrence-Taylor and Paul Sirret
When Mia’s dad suffers a traumatic brain injury and struggles to leave the house, she makes it her mission to find the cure for his symptoms. Delving deeper and deeper into the world of neuroscience, Mia is desperate to make him better, but first she must contend with her own brain.

Suggested content guidance:
Recommended for ages 13+
Content warnings:
• Strong language
• Discussion of brain injury and the associate affects.
• Discussion of anxiety, PTSD, obsessive compulsive disorder and mental health
• References to blood
• Discussion of hearing loss
• References to agoraphobia

YOU 2.0 by Alys Metcalf
Strangers Martha and Isaac find themselves forced into playing YOU 2.0, a new therapy video game designed to help players access their better selves. As they tackle the levels in two player mode, the pair form an unlikely friendship behind the anonymity of their gaming avatars, but their impact on each other’s lives goes much deeper than the game.

Suggested content guidance:
Recommended for ages 13+
Content warnings:
• Discussion of mental health
• Allusion to self-harm
• Mild language
• Discussion of bereavement
• References to chronic illness

Saba’s Swim by Danusia Samal
Seven months ago, Saba walked out of her GCSE mocks and didn’t come back. Her friends don’t understand why. Now, on prom night, Saba’s finally made contact, challenging her friends to track her down via a series of cryptic clues. But when the friends are finally reunited, Saba is different.
The way she sees the world has changed. And what she’s asking of her friends… is it more than they can give?

Suggested content guidance:
Recommended for ages 15+
Content warnings:
• Frequent descriptions of war, bombing and death, including the death of infants
• Descriptions of drowning
• Moderate language – swear-free version available
• Mention of depression
• Depiction of arson
• Discussion of prison and criminality