Tuesday 22 July 2014

National Theatre Connections 2015 success



We are delighted to announce that The Winston Churchill School Drama Department has been chosen to take part in the 2015 National Theatre Connections festival of new plays.

 Emma Friend, National Theatre Connections organiser said, “We were inundated with applications, and were heavily oversubscribed for this extremely exciting year of National Theatre Connections. We are delighted to be able to invite The Winston Churchill School to participate in the 2015 Connections Festival. Each year the Connections team travels the length and breadth of the country to support and encourage the participants – the drama teachers and youth theatre directors who take on the challenge of staging a new play, and the young theatre companies. Each year we are thrilled by the skill, creativity, commitment and passion that go into each production, often on a shoestring budget and a rehearsal schedule carved out around school commitments.”

Connections is the National Theatre’s annual festival of new plays for youth theatres and schools. Connections 2014 involved:
  • 10 Writers
  • 230 Youth Theatre Companies
  • 5,000 Young People
  • 684 Performances
  • 26 Partner Theatres
  • 25,000 Audience Members
Connections aims to: 
   •   inspire 13-19 year olds with high-quality new playwriting
   •   give companies the knowledge, skills and confidence to bring the plays to life
   •   involve a wide range of young companies, giving additional support where needed
   •   encourage young people to get involved in all aspects of theatre making

Connections gives young people experience of professional theatre-making. Their experience mirrors that of a company producing a new play in any theatre in the country. They create marketing campaigns, design sets and costumes, operate lighting and sound boards, stage-manage their performances. In 2014, each company had the experience of performing in a leading regional theatre, at one of the Connections festivals around the country. 

Mrs Samantha Remnant will be making her school directorial debut as Director of our 2015 National Theatre Connections production, with Mr Donaldson and Mr Jolly acting as Co-producers. Auditions will be getting underway in late September with a production date of March /April 2015.

Simon Donaldson / Subject Leader for Drama