National Theatre Connections at Dundee Rep

Rep Creative Learning presents

Fri 6 – Sun 8 May Performances at 7pm

Bookings: 01382 223530 / dundeerep.co.uk

Tickets (fees apply*): £5 Family Ticket (2 adults, 2 children): £12 Concessions: £3 *A £1.50 transaction fee applies to debit and credit card bookings.

Photography by Sorted. Design by National Theatre Graphic Design Studio

Every year the National Theatre commissions new plays by leading playwrights for young theatre companies all over the country to perform, in our nationwide Connections festival.

This year we celebrate the 21st anniversary of Connections. 500 youth theatre companies and 10,000 young people working with forty-one partner theatres will perform twelve outstanding plays from the 150 works written for young people since the festival began in 1995.

This is the first year that Dundee Rep Theatre have hosted a National Theatre Connections festival and the weekend is set to be an exciting one with youth theatres and school groups coming from Kirriemuir, Perth, Stirling and Dundee to perform here at the Rep. There will be a double bill of exciting performances each night as well as a variety of theatre workshops, events and open mic performances that anyone can get involved with – so have a look through the programme to find out more!

To book tickets for performances please contact Dundee Rep Box Office.

To book a place onto a free workshop please contact Creative Learning on 01382 342660.

Friday 6 May Performances: 7pm start

Perth Academy

Perth High School

by Patrick Marber

by Bryony Lavery, Steven Hoggett & Scott Graham

The Musicians There is a metaphor that you can ‘make music’ without even having instruments. Is that possible? Why not? We can make theatre anywhere, with any group of people; trained or untrained, in a street, on a train, in a shed….as long as there is an audience with open eyes and ears.

The Musicians is a play about the spirit of young people coming together to achieve something great. The Perth Academy school orchestra have travelled from Scotland to Moscow to give a concert at the European Festival of Youth before an influential audience. But…their instruments have been impounded by customs. Luckily, Alex, the Russian boy who cleans the hall, comes up with a plan that saves everyone.

01382 223530 / dundeerep.co.uk

It Snows

Same old story. Boy doesn’t meet Girl.

Girl doesn’t meet Boy. Threatened by terrifying Lads Gang. Threatened by awe inspiring Girls Gang. Mum and Dad have declared war… against each other. Weird neighbour in the building opposite. Usual ordinary gloominess.

Then, one day, it snows. Everything changes.

This performance group is made up of two separate classes of S3 pupils, for many this is the first time performing to a large audience and for some even the first time they have performed on a stage! This performance goes towards their National Examination qualifications.

Saturday 7 May Performances: 7pm start

Macrobert Young Company

Dundee Rep Youth Theatre

by James Graham

by Carl Grose

Basset

An exhilarating and startling snapshot of a generation who’ve inherited a world at war.

At Wootton Bassett School the supply teacher has done a runner and locked the pupils in their classroom. Dean needs the toilet, Aimee needs a coffee, Amid needs to pray and Leo… well, Leo really, really wants to escape.

Recommended for age 14+ Macrobert Young Company is made up of young people aged between 14 and 17 who come from across Stirling and Forth Valley. These talented, motivated young artists have been working with Lucy Wild to create a top quality theatre performance for National Theatre Connections 2016.

They are delighted to be joining other young performers and performing at Dundee Rep!

01382 223530 / dundeerep.co.uk

Gargantua

When Mr. and Mrs.Mungus have a baby it isn’t the bouncing blue eyed boy they were hoping for. After a two-and-a-half year pregnancy, Mini Mungus gives birth to a monster!

A gargantuan baby that military scientists become intent on cloning hoping to create an army of giant babies. When he escapes the world can only look on in horror as chaos descends…

Dundee Rep 13-14’s youth theatre are looking forward to present their production of Gargantua as part of National Theatre Connections 2016. They are also really excited to welcome all the other companies to their home theatre.

Sunday 8 May Performances: 7pm start

Grove Academy Youth Theatre

Little Red Theatre, Kirriemuir

by Lucinda Coxon

by Simon Armitage

What Are They Like?

What Are They Like? by Lucinda Coxon explores the concerns and worries of parents about their teenage children as they grow up, move on, move out and lose the art of communication. The parents voice their feelings about their offspring, some negative, some positive, but all loving. The parents are played by teenagers. The parents were once teenagers, and the teenagers will (probably) one day be parents.

Perhaps remembering the voices of their parents will help them when that day comes…

Grove Academy Youth Theatre is made up of pupils from S1 – S4 from Grove Academy in Broughty Ferry and has just passed its first birthday.

The group have worked on a variety of projects over the course of this year – including a 5-minute version of Macbeth for some visiting Japanese tourists!

01382 223530 / dundeerep.co.uk

Eclipse

A group of unseen adults wait, out of scientific interest, on a Cornish clifftop for a total eclipse of the sun while their teenage children play on the beach below, planning their own magical way of marking the moment. When a strange young girl appears on the beach the group find that when science and myth collide there can be consequences.

Little Red Theatre is a new youth theatre based in the town of Kirriemuir that provides regular classes and performance opportunities for young people in the area.

Bookings: 01382 342660

Workshops: Saturday 7th May

10-1pm & 2-5pm Puppetry Ross McKay

Dance Theatre Joan Cleville

How do you give an object life? How do you make it move naturally and tell the story you want it to? This is a practical, hands on workshop exploring how to make puppets work on stage.

Using the voice as an extra limb. Reaching with the body where words don’t get to. Exploring the territory where the conventional boundaries between dance and theatre get blurred…

Artistic Director, Ross MacKay will introduce techniques to create a world for puppets to play and to begin telling a visual story on stage.

Join choreographer and director Joan Clevillé in a playful physical theatre session for young people interested in unlocking their creative potential. No previous experience required!

Ross MacKay is Artistic Director of award winning visual theatre company, Tortoise in a Nutshell. He has directed numerous productions that have toured throughout the UK and the world including the Fringe First winning Feral.

Ross is also an accomplished puppeteer and magician. Previous puppetry work includes The National Theatre of Scotland’s The Last Polar Bears and Dundee Rep’s The BFG. He is a former Scottish Young Magician of the Year and trained as an apprentice at Bread and Puppet Theatre in Vermont.

All workshops are open to participants aged 13 to 19yrs and are free to attend but are of limited capacity and spaces are allocated on a first come first served basis. Bookings for the workshops open on Monday 25th April.

Please phone Creative Learning on 01382 342660 to book a space!

Joan is an independent choreographer based in the city of Dundee and Artistic Director of Joan Clevillé Dance. He works across the genres of dance, physical theatre and storytelling and has received commissions from several dance and theatre companies both home and abroad.

Since summer 2014, Joan has been Associate Artist of the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance at Dundee and Angus College. He also works as a guest teacher with companies and higher education centres across Europe.

Please wear loose comfortable clothing and bring a bottle of water when attending all workshops.

Bookings: 01382 342660

Workshops: Sunday 8th May

10-1pm & 2-5pm Music for Theatre Gary Cameron

Stage Combat Janet Lawson

This workshop will be exploring how music in theatre affects and compliments performance. Exploring and discussing what type of sound design best suits particular moments of a predetermined piece of theatre, you will begin your journey to composing for production. The workshop will culminate in the creation of an original piece of music or song.

This fun workshop will give you an introduction to unarmed stage combat – learn to punch, slap and strangle, act the fight, play the pain and die with style.

Then put what you’ve learned into a fight choreography and perform it to the class.

The aim of the session is to better understand how to create atmosphere through music and know when/how to manipulate sound based on visuals.

Participants can bring instruments in which they are competent although you don’t need to bring an instrument to attend!

Gary Cameron is a Musical Director and Composer. Gary has worked on numerous projects with companies across the UK such as the National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Youth Theatre, Dundee Rep, Toonspeak, New Diorama/Hulltruck and Bard in the Botanics. Gary is a regular collaborator with Folksy Theatre, composing for seven of their productions in total including original musical versions of classics A Christmas Carol and Wind In The Willows. You will also find Gary at the Edinburgh Playhouse where he directs the local choir.

It will help you develop a knowledge and understanding of the principles and methods used in stage combat including fundamental safety techniques, effective staging and performance skills.

Janet Lawson is a professional fight arranger and a Certified Teacher with the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat. After teaching in London for eight years she returned to her native Scotland and now teaches stage combat workshops at drama schools, schools, youth and community groups throughout the country.

She is the stage combat teacher for the Professional Diploma Course at Acting Coach Scotland in Glasgow.

Through her company Stage Fight Scotland she provides professional level stage combat training including industryrecognised courses leading to certification by the BASSC.

Dundee Rep Tours Come and take a peek behind the scenes at Dundee Rep! Follow our Creative Learning staff through all the nooks and crannys of the theatre and see everything that goes into the productions here. We guarantee there’s more to see than you think…

Connections Café Come and join us for some music, poetry and laughs at the Connections Café!

Following the performances on Friday and Saturday night there will be an informal open mic night where anyone with a song to sing, a joke to tell or a story to read can share it in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.

Saturday 7th May: 12-1pm & 2-3pm Sunday 8th May: 12-1pm & 2-3pm Tours are open to participants aged 13-19 and spaces will be available to book from Monday 25th April.

If you would like to book a space on a building tour please contact Creative Learning on 01382 342660.

Connections is supported by Jacqueline and Richard Worswick With thanks for additional contributions from NT supporters and trusts and foundations

Photography by Sorted. Design by National Theatre Graphic Design Studio