Plays for and by Young People Slated for National Theatre Connections Festival 2017

Young members of Sheffield People's Theatre take part in a national celebration of theatre when they join local schools and youth theatre groups performing new plays from emerging playwrights as part of the National Theatre Connections Festival 2017 at the Crucible Studio Theatre Monday 27 March - Saturday 1 April.

Sheffield Theatres' Assistant Director George Richmond-Scott leads a team of twelve young Sheffield People's Theatre members in universal coming of age story Musical Differences on Monday 27 March. Written by co-creator of BBC's Cuckoo Robin French, the play explores impossible love affairs and brutal school politics, and uncovers the price we are willing to pay for success.

Other organisations involved in the festival are West Yorkshire Drama Academy, The King's School, Hinde House School, Rotherham College, Unlimited Theatre, Something Wicked This Way Comes (Talbot Specialist School), Flame Theatre Company, Yew Tree Youth Theatre, CAPA College, Castleford Academy and First Floor.

Connections is the National Theatre's annual festival of new plays for youth theatres and schools. It gives young people experience of professional theatre-making which mirrors that of a company producing a new play. Sheffield Theatres will be showing nine plays from emerging playwrights, including Sheffield based Tim Etchells, which will be performed by twelve local schools and groups.

Emily Hutchinson, Creative Projects Manager at Sheffield Theatres commented: 'We're thrilled to be working with such talented and enthusiastic young people as part of the National Theatre Connections Festival once again. The Connections Festival is a brilliant way to get the younger generation involved in the arts, and that's something we are really passionate about at Sheffield Theatres. Some of our young members have grown up performing with Sheffield People's Theatre and it's a real privilege to be part of their journey.'

Tickets for the National Theatre Connections Festival are on sale now from Sheffield Theatres' Box Office, priced at £6.00 a night. Call 0114 249 6000 or visit sheffieldtheatres.co.uk to book.

Sheffield People's Theatre last appeared on the Crucible stage in A Dream, and will return to the main stage with What We Wished For by Chris Bush from Wednesday 19 - Saturday 22 July.

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IF YOU GO:

Mon 27 March

7.15pm

Musical Differences

Performed by Sheffield People's Theatre Young Company

The Snow Dragons

Performed by West Yorkshire Drama Academy

Tue 28 March

7.15pm

Extremism

Performed by The King's School

Three

Performed by Hinde House School

Wed 29 March

7.15pm

Status Update

Performed by Rotherham College

The Monstrum

Performed by Unlimited Theatre

Thu 30 March

7.15pm

The School Film

Performed by Something Wicked This Way Comes (Talbot Specialist School)

FOMO

Performed by Flame Theatre Company

Fri 31 March

7.15pm

Three

Performed by Yew Tree Youth Theatre

Zero for the Young Dudes!

Performed by CAPA College

Sat 1 April

7.15pm

FOMO

Performed by Castleford Academy

Status Update

Performed by First Floor

MORE ABOUT THE WORKS:

Musical Differences

By Robin French

In the summer of Year Ten, Alex Stokes takes the fateful step of buying an electric guitar and forming his own rock group. He teams up with a mysterious young singer by the name of Joel Lawrence. What follows could well be the most incredible saga in the school's musical history. The band survives different line-ups, impossible love affairs and brutal school politics. By Year Thirteen, they are a tightly knit four-piece, and their final gig is nothing short of remarkable - but have individual members paid too high a price?

The Snow Dragons

By Lizzie Nunnery

Raggi and her friends spend their free time in the woods and mountains around their sleepy fjord town playing games of Vikings, dragons and war. When soldiers occupy the town, they watch from their hut in the mountains: their friends and families beaten, silenced, abducted... Let down by the adult world they form The Snow Dragons, 'the last line of resistance' carrying out sabotage missions. But this is no game, and true courage requires great sacrifice.

Extremism

By Anders Lustgarten

The police just took Jamal away. Because Miss Tomlinson called them. Because she had to. Because of Prevent. But now Miss Tomlinson and the police are gone, and all that's left is a shell-shocked class. Who knew Jamal? What did he do? And what is gonna happen next? A play about fear, friendship and the creeping polarisation of our society.

Three

By Harriet Braun

It's a long, hot summer. Six teenagers are in various states of lust, longing and unrequited love. A boy has a crush on the girl next door; only she's going out with the school heartthrob. Two teenagers meet for a blind date but they're both thinking about someone else. A shy girl with a secret makes friends with the most popular girl in her class. Only these are love stories with a difference: thanks to the inner voice trailing around after each character, we get to hear what they're all saying and thinking. Fortunately there's a narrator to keep us all on track, but there's a small problem: our narrator would much rather be on reality TV.

Status Update

By Tim Etchells

We know facts. We know secrets. We have opinions, we have intuition and we have the stage. Status Update is an unflinching and funny catalogue of the things teenagers learn, believe and have sussed out about the world. From the ridiculous to the highly charged, all these truths and half-truths are laid bare before us, without the safety net of character or fiction.

The Monstrum

By KEllie Smith

In a cold village on the edge of nowhere, a disease has broken out, infecting the young and transforming them into monstrous creatures. The villagers fearfully watch their children for symptoms of the disease, whilst the Mayor has adopted tough measures for dealing with those who are infected. When Bolek, the local scholar, makes a breakthrough in finding a cure, few are prepared for the gruesome nature of the treatment. But with his own daughter showing signs of infection, there is no choice than to stop this terrible disease dead in its tracks.

The School Film

By Patrick Marber

'What are great expectations?'

'It means he's going to be rich. And a gentleman'

The whole school assemble in the hall to watch 'the school film' which turns out to be an old British classic from the 1940s, in black and white no less. As the young viewers absorb the adventures of the characters in the old story they begin to discover what their own expectations might be.

FOMO

By Suhayla El-Bushra

Dani and Josh are the perfect high school couple. Their friends look on in envy as their love story unfolds on social media. But when the government switches off the internet for reasons of national security, the truth of their relationship is revealed. Told almost entirely through tweets, texts and status updates, FOMO takes a light, humorous look at the futility of comparing your own life to someone else's Instagram feed.

Zero for the Young Dudes!

By Alistair McDowall

The inmates at a bizarre summer camp are plotting a revolution. Or has it already happened?

Spending a day watching their schedule of exercise, lessons and meals, a long history of unrest and injustice lies hidden, and as the day wears on, a violent future looms large on the horizon.

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