NEW CONNECTIONS 2009
Olivier & Cottesloe Theatres
Performances from 1 – 7 July

NEW CONNECTIONS commissions new plays for and about teenagers from some of the best contemporary playwrights, for performance by schools and youth theatres from all over the UK and Ireland, both in their home venues and at 15 regional partnership theatres. The NT Festival showcases an example of each play.

The 2009 portfolio features plays by: David Mamet, Anthony Horowitz, Anthony Neilson, William Boyd, Ben Power, Christopher William Hill, Conor Mitchell, Davey Anderson, Georgia Fitch, Lisa McGee, Michael Lesslie and Nick Drake. Tales of attraction, rejection, loyalty, loss, magic, mischief – plus the familiar ups and downs of first friendships – are at the heart of this year’s plays.

Produced by the National Theatre’s Discover Programme and supported for the second year running by Bank of America, NEW CONNECTIONS is one of the world’s largest celebrations of youth theatre. As in past years, the plays will be published in an anthology by Faber & Faber, and a copy sent to every secondary school in the country.

Performances: 1 – 7 July (for details see www.nationaltheatre.org.uk).
Contact: Jennifer Reynolds: 020 7452 3233 / jreynolds@nationaltheatre.org.uk