Almost 200 young actors from across Ireland and Scotland will take part in a major festival of youth drama at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast over the May Bank Holiday weekend. The Lyric is hosting Connections, the National Theatre's festival of new plays for young people and schools.
Each year the National Theatre in London commissions 10 writers to create one-act plays for young people aged 13 -18. One of these writers is Dundonald playwright, Stacey Gregg whose play I’m Spilling My Heart Out Herecloses the festival at the Lyric on Monday.
Across the UK, 222 youth theatre companies will present premieres of plays in venues around the country this spring, with ten companies eventually performing at the National Theatre on London’s South Bank in July.
A total of seven youth theatre companies are taking part in the festival at the Lyric, coming from as far south as Cork and as far north as Perth, in Scotland. They will perform and watch a series of plays from Saturday 4th through to Monday 6th May, as well as participate in a number of drama workshops delivered by local theatre practitioners.
Lyric Creative Learning Co-ordinator Philip Crawford said: “The Lyric is delighted to be hosting this festival and to be collaborating with the National Theatre in London. This is the first time in recent years that the Lyric has been involved in NT Connections. It gives young people a wonderful opportunity to experience the whole theatre-making process and is also a chance for them to explore the city of Belfast.”
Each year the National Theatre in London commissions 10 writers to create one-act plays for young people aged 13 -18. One of these writers is Dundonald playwright, Stacey Gregg whose play I’m Spilling My Heart Out Herecloses the festival at the Lyric on Monday.
Across the UK, 222 youth theatre companies will present premieres of plays in venues around the country this spring, with ten companies eventually performing at the National Theatre on London’s South Bank in July.
A total of seven youth theatre companies are taking part in the festival at the Lyric, coming from as far south as Cork and as far north as Perth, in Scotland. They will perform and watch a series of plays from Saturday 4th through to Monday 6th May, as well as participate in a number of drama workshops delivered by local theatre practitioners.
Lyric Creative Learning Co-ordinator Philip Crawford said: “The Lyric is delighted to be hosting this festival and to be collaborating with the National Theatre in London. This is the first time in recent years that the Lyric has been involved in NT Connections. It gives young people a wonderful opportunity to experience the whole theatre-making process and is also a chance for them to explore the city of Belfast.”