National Theatre Connections
WHAT IS CONNECTIONS? 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. Our Make Some Noise Seniors will be stepping up to the plate and will be representing Thurrock in Connections Festival 2027. […]
WHAT IS CONNECTIONS?
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.
Our Make Some Noise Seniors will be stepping up to the plate and will be representing Thurrock in Connections Festival 2027. We will be provided with a play handpicked by the NT Team from this year’s selection, along with a mentor and a performance at our allocated Partner Theatre’s Connections Festival.
Our group of 14-19 year olds are taking advantage of such an exciting opportunity… They’ll be taking on performing, directing, costume design, stage management and behind the scenes roles!
Auditions for the current Connections Production will happen on the 5th of November from 6:30pm – 8pm within the Make Some Noise Rehearsal.
We recommend attending our Skill share workshops in the lead up to the auditions. These run within our Make Some Noise sessions for the Seniors and will prepare participants for the auditions both in and outside of Arts Outburst.
WHAT TO EXPECT
24 September: Script Work & Line Learning
Get Confident With a Script
Learn practical techniques for approaching scripts like an actor. Explore how to break down scenes, understand character intentions, find beats and make sense of unfamiliar material. You’ll also discover different line-learning techniques to help you memorise dialogue while staying present and connected to your performance.
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1 October: Physicality & Movement
Tell the Story Without Words
Discover how your body can communicate character, emotion and intention. Explore posture, gesture, spatial awareness, pace, energy and physical characterisation, developing the confidence to make strong physical choices both on stage and in auditions.
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8 October: Acting & Audition Techniques
Build Your Acting Toolkit
Explore a range of practical acting techniques and approaches to creating believable, engaging performances, building a toolkit you can draw on when approaching any scene or audition.
With 2 more Voice Workshops to follow.
Connections is the National Theatre’s annual, nation- wide 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, Connections commissions 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, they worked with over 250 youth companies from every corner of the UK. Connections is open to any company of young people aged 13-19, and up to 26 years old for groups with additional needs.
The Connections 2025 programme includes ten new play commissions each year, which have been closely developed with input from young people. The National Theatre carefully select plays for each participating group from 10 commissioned pieces and are currently in the process of pairing us with a Mentor Director to work along side our core team.
The Make Some Noise, Young Actor’s Company will band together, led by director Amy Mellows to take on an array of creative responsibilities in a team effort. The group will use weekly rehearsals to explore Script work, interpretation along with stage management and backstage roles, lighting and stage design, costumes & props and tonnes more…
At the end of the rehearsal period it will be time for Connections Festival which will include one Home Performance and a performance at a Partner Theatre. We are pleased to say that our Connections experience will provide the opportunity to perform at not just one, but two Essex based theatres… the Thameside Theatre, Grays and Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch.
After our Home and Partner performances that will round up our Connections experience however, we will be looking for more performance opportunities around that time. The National Theatre at this point will be selecting ten groups from around the country to perform their pieces at The National Theatre itself to conclude Connections for the year, in June/July 2025.
Home Performance
TBC
Partner Theatre Performance
TBC
The group will be taking on a bunch of different roles, all of which are crucial to make a cohesive and successful piece of work to share.
On-Stage Roles include Performers of all kinds that will take on Characters to tell the story. Performers and understudies are expected to learn the lines of their part and their stage directions, off by heart ready for the performance.
Off-Stage Roles include a huge variety. Assistant Directors will assist the Director in interpreting the play and reimagining ways of telling the story. Stage Design, Lighting, Music, Costume and Props are all areas that will need to be designed, created or sourced to compliment the storyline, stage directions and performance – all integral to a piece of theatre. Stage Management brings lots of opportunities to take responsibility for the mentioned areas, amongst other backstage duties such as communicating with the theatre team and some cases actively working along side them.
All roles are important in this huge team effort, allowing the group to really explore their interests.
Keep your eyes peeled for more information on Connections 2027.
2025
Fresh Air by Vickie Donoghue
Directed by Scott Le-Crass
In our first year of NT Connections, we were lucky enough to be tasked with Fresh Air by Vickie Donoghue, an exciting new piece, commissioned by the National Theatre specifically for Connections Festival 2024/25.
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.
Interestingly, the play Fresh Air was based upon the area’s heritage. We were really excited to be able to work on a piece that was so relatable to home and rich in local history!
Vickie Donoghue is a writer from Essex working across stage, screen and radio. Her plays include Mudlarks at The Bush Theatre; Tender – Loving Care at the New Theatre Royal Portsmouth; Aperture at the Royal Court Theatre; The Path at the HighTide Festival; The Electric for Paines Plough and The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama; The Witch Finder’s Sister and The Flood at The Queens Theatre, Hornchurch; The Gift for BBC Radio 4; The Piper, a 10 part Podcast drama co-written with Natalie Mitchell for BBC Sounds.
Vickie was an Associate Artist at The Mercury Theatre and a Paines Plough playwright Fellow. She was longlisted for the Evening Standard Theatre Awards as Most Promising New Playwright and was shortlisted for the Royal National Theatre Foundation Playwright Award.
