Cast will host the first live performances, reaffirming a commitment to the creative potential of every individual within the borough. NT Connections sits as part of Cast’s learning programme, which through the Doncaster Cultural Education Partnership is to also launch a careers website, curated by artists and cultural organisations to highlight career options and pathways. These two pieces of Young People’s programming show Cast’s commitment to theatre as a way to enrich the lives of young people, and also to open up the possibilities of culture as a future career pathway.
Each year the National Theatre commissions ten new plays for young people to perform, bringing together some of the UK's most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. Every year, 300 youth theatre companies and over 6,000 young people from every corner of the UK are producing a Connections play this year. This year partners have adapted to make the Connections programme as flexible as possible, and to respond to the restrictions in place due to Covid-19.
Crusaders by Frances Poet will be performed by the Delanté Détras Theatre Company from Hall Cross Academy; Find a Partner by Miriam Battye will be performed by Cast Youth Theatre; The Marxist in Heaven by Hattie Naylor from Lincoln Young Company will be shared online. All performance will be shared online from 24 May.
Cast, Head of Participation, Sarah Clough said:
‘At Cast we’re passionate about offering access to theatre for all the young people within the borough and following on from the past year, I’m delighted that we’ve chosen to stage the work of young people who have come together virtual and physically in spite of all those challenges. To be sharing these performances in careers week feels even more poignant as it shows a real commitment to introducing young people to the cultural sector and the career pathways the arts can offer in the future.’
