National Theatre Connections 2012: Plays for Young People


Book Description

This brilliant new collection of ten plays for young people will prove indispensable to schools, colleges and youth theatre groups. Specially commissioned by the National Theatre for the Connections Festival 2012 involving 200 schools and youth theatre groups across the UK and Ireland, each play is accompanied by production notes and exercises. Power struggles, rites of passage, love and forbidden relationships are some of the rich themes that run through the 2012 cycle of plays. Some are deeply funny, some are provocative and some reflective; and one has really catchy songs! For the 2012 Festival, the anthology has an international feel and offers a window on the world. It includes from Australia a play based on a nineteenth century court case in which a teenage girl was falsely convicted; from Brazil a drama about young lovers doomed to tragedy; set in Russia, a play exploring differing attitudes to National Service and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991; a drama about students' rights to an education and the Cultural Revolution of 1966 in China; and a comedy involving a group of Irish country girls travelling to London to audition for the X-Factor.




National Theatre Connections 2013


Book Description

Drawing together the work of ten leading playwrights – a mixture of established and current writers – National Theatre Connections 2013 offers young performers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen everywhere an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department and reflects the past year's programming at the venue in the plays' ideas, themes and styles. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased. The volume features an introduction by Anthony Banks, Associate Director for the National Theatre Discover Programme, and each play includes notes from the writer and director addressing the themes and ideas behind the play, as well as production notes and exercises. Published to coincide with the 2013 Connections festival, and the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre, this year's collection features work from Howard Brenton, Jim Cartwright, Lucinda Coxon, Ryan Craig, Stacey Gregg, Jonathan Harvey, Lenny Henry, Jemma Kennedy, Morna Pearson, and Anya Reiss.




National Theatre Connections 2020


Book Description

National Theatre Connections is an annual festival which brings new plays for young people to schools and youth theatres across the UK and Ireland. Commissioning exciting work from leading playwrights, the festival exposes actors aged 13-19 to the world of professional theatre-making, giving them full control of a theatrical production - from costume and set design to stage management and marketing campaigns. NT Connections have published over 150 original plays and regularly works with 500 theatre companies and 10,000 young people each year. This anthology brings together 9 new plays by some of the UK's most prolific and current writers and artists alongside notes on each of the texts exploring performance for schools and youth groups. Wind / Rush Generation(s) by Mojisola Adebayo Tuesday by Alison Carr A series of public apologies (in response to an unfortunate incident in the school lavatories) by John Donnelly THE IT by Vivienne Franzmann The Marxist in Heaven by Hattie Naylor Look Up by Andrew Muir Crusaders by Frances Poet Witches Can't Be Burned by Silva Semerciyan Dungeness by Chris Thompson .




Using Literature in English Language Education


Book Description

Covering Green's The Fault in Our Stars, Collins' The Hunger Games, Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Rowling's Wizarding World, Staake's Bluebird and Winton's Lockie Leonard, contributors consider how literature can be used for teaching literary literacy, creative writing, intercultural learning, critical pedagogy and deep reading in school settings where English is the teaching medium. Leading scholars from around the world explore pedagogical principles for English Language Teaching (ELT) widening children's and teenagers' literacy competences as well as their horizons through insightful engagement with texts. From challenging picturebooks for primary and secondary students, to graphic novels, to story apps, film and drama, as well as speculative fiction on provocative topics, recent research on literature education in ELT settings combines with cognitive criticism in the field of children's, young adult and adult literature.




Mullarkey Plays: 1


Book Description

A remarkable writer – an original fresh voice, with a sharp political edge (Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director the Royal Court Theatre). British writer Rory Mullarkey is the winner of the Harold Pinter Commission, the James Tait Black Prize for Drama and the George Devine Award for most promising playwright. His original work has been staged at the Royal Court Theatre, the National Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. His first play collection brings together three previously published plays with two unpublished works. A writer of “considerable talent” (Telegraph), this is a powerful and diverse collection from an established contemporary voice. Single Sex: “a truly disturbing and twisted tale of obsession” (Culture Bean) Tourism: A compelling and humorous take on modern cultural identities. Cannibals: “Brilliantly exciting drama” (Independent) Wolf From the Door: “Fervent and bracingly original...laced with exuberant absurdity and moments of twisted humour...” (Evening Standard) Each Slow Dusk: 'A great war play, original and richly reflective in form . . . [It] encapsulates the British soldier's experience in under an hour . . . Remarkable.' ReviewsGate




National Theatre Connections 2014


Book Description

Drawing together the work of ten leading playwrights - a mixture of established and emerging writers - this National Theatre Connections anthology is published to coincide with the 2014 festival, which takes place across the UK and finishes up at the National Theatre in London. It offers young performers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen everywhere an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play is specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department with the young performer in mind. The plays are performed by approximately 200 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional regional theatres where the works are showcased. As with previous anthologies, the volume will feature an introduction by Anthony Banks, Associate Director of the National Theatre Discover Programme, and each play includes notes from the writer and director addressing the themes and ideas behind the play, as well as production notes and exercises. The National Theatre Connections series has been running for nineteen years and the anthology that accompanies it, published for the last three years by Methuen Drama, is gaining a greater profile by the year. Some iconic plays have grown out of the Connections programme including Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill, Burn by Deborah Gearing, Chatroom by Enda Walsh, Baby Girl by Roy Williams, DNA by Dennis Kelly, and The Miracle by Lin Coghlan. The series has a recognisable brand and the anthologies continue to be an extremely useful resource, their value extending well beyond their year of publication. This year's anthology includes plays by Sabrina Mahfouz, Simon Vinnicombe, Catherine Johnson, Pauline McLynn, Dafydd James, Luke Norris and Sam Holcroft.




Dennis Kelly


Book Description

Dennis Kelly explores Kelly’s unusual career path and sheds light on his eclectic approach to the arts, characterised by a refusal to write texts that people can fit within neat categories. This is the first monograph on Kelly’s work for stage and screen and brings to light his essential contribution to contemporary British drama and his huge range of work including his rise to international fame with Matilda the Musical. Drawing on Kelly’s published and unpublished texts, his work in production, reviews, original interviews with directors, actors and with Kelly himself as well as critical theory, Dennis Kelly examines and reappraises key motifs in his work such as his preoccupation with violence, the complex relationship between the individual and the community or his emphasis on storytelling. It also offers new insights into overlooked aspects of Kelly’s work by setting out to explore his traumatic narratives and his post-romanticism. In keeping with Kelly’s wish never to repeat himself, this study offers multiple critical entries into his plays, television series and films, drawing on moral and political philosophy, trauma studies, studies in humour, feminist theory and film studies. Part of the Routledge Modern and Contemporary Dramatist series, Dennis Kelly is addressed to students and scholars in Drama, Theatre and Performance as well as theatre practitioners and offers in-depth analysis of one of the most unique and challenging voices in contemporary British playwriting and screenwriting.




Connections 500


Book Description

Drawing together the work of 12 leading playwrights, this National Theatre Connections anthology celebrates highlights from 21 years of the Connections festival with a retrospective selection of plays. Featuring work by some of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th and 21st centuries, and together in one volume, the anthology offers young performers between the ages of 13 and 19 an engaging selection of plays to perform, read or study. Each play has been specifically commissioned by the National Theatre's literary department over the years, with the young performer in mind. In 2016, these plays were then performed by approximately 500 schools and youth theatre companies across the UK and Ireland, in partnership with multiple professional partner regional theatres at which the works were showcased. The anthology contains all 12 of the play scripts; notes from the writer and director of each play, addressing the themes and ideas behind the play; and production notes and exercises for the drama groups. This year's anniversary anthology includes plays by Snoo Wilson, Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt; Simon Armitage; Jackie Kay; Patrick Marber; Mark Ravenhill; Bryony Lavery & Frantic Assembly; Davey Anderson; James Graham; Katori Hall; Carl Grose; Stacey Gregg; and Lucinda Coxon.




The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Abridged for Schools


Book Description

This abridged edition is designed for schools and has been adapted for 10 actors playing all of the roles. With a running time of just 90 minutes it is suitable for performance in non-theatre spaces, with minimal technical requirements. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time brings Mark Haddon's best-selling novel to life on stage, adapted by two-time Olivier Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens. Winner of seven Olivier Awards including Best Play, along with the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Tony Awards for Best Play, this remarkable and exhilarating "theatrical masterpiece" originated at London's Royal National Theatre in 2012 before going on to transfer to the West End for multiple seasons, followed by its acclaimed Broadway run. The play has now been seen on five continents around the world with major productions ranging from Mexico, Australia, Canada, Seoul and Japan. This brand new edition of the play has been abridged specifically with schools in mind and published following a 12-week tour of 60 secondary schools in the UK. The play tells the story of Christopher John Francis Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands besides Mrs Shears' dead dog, Wellington, who has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in a book he is writing to solve the mystery of who killed Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain and is exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.




New Plays


Book Description

This new collection, includes three full-length plays: Bad Girls, Black Water, The Passion of Henry David Thoreau, and eight shorter pieces. Bad Girls is the story of three teenage sisters who ruin the life of the man who comes between them and their single mother; Black Water a dramatization of Oates's widely acclaimed novel of that title; and The Passion of Henry David Thoreau a portrayal of the passionate life and premature death of one of our great nineteenth-century writers. The subjects of the shorter pieces vary considerably, from a serial murder to a nightmarish visit to an adoption agency.