Reading College is pleased to announce that its Level 2 Performing and Production Arts students have been chosen to take part in the National Theatre’s annual Connections showcase, for the first time.
Students will use this opportunity for their final major project and will work on it throughout the academic year. Rehearsals will start in January 2021.
Each year, the National Theatre commissions a set of new plays especially for Connections which have been written for young people.
The students are delighted that they will be working on and performing Finding a partner by Miriam Battye. Finding a partner is a commentary on how society views love and what it deems important. It’s similar to Love Island with its focus on social media with a fly on the wall Big Brother style.
The young performers will have regular workshops with the playwright and will be assigned a professional director from the National Theatre, either via Zoom or in person closer to the time of the performance. Next term, students will work alongside a technician and have sessions with a cinematographer.
By the end of the autumn term, students will find out which playhouse or theatre they will be paired with. The National Theatre is hoping that the students will be able to do a dress rehearsal and final performance at their chosen theatre but are just looking into the best way to do so, given the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic.
The director from the National Theatre will also watch one of the performances and give the students feedback which can be used for reflection, helping them to improve future performances.
Katie Townsend, Performing Arts Lecturer at Activate Learning will also receive continuing professional development from the resident director and playwright and will attend a virtual weekend. Reading College have received a £400 bursary for the Connections project.
Katie said: “I’m really excited that our students are going to be taking part in the National Theatre’s Connections annual festival which will be a really good production that they can utilise for their CVs and work experience.
“Students will have the opportunity to work alongside theatre industry professionals, including an assigned playwright and director. They’ll touch on different elements such as tech and costume design, as well as working with outside agencies to refine their professional and communication skills.
“They’ll have specific roles and duties to take responsibility of and one of the students, Callum Wade, will be working alongside me as a director. They’ll be taking directions and learning to self-direct.
“It’ll also give the students the opportunity to work closely together and start negotiating and managing themselves as a company, which I think is a really good skill to have especially in terms of refining their professionalism, entrepreneurship skills, not just on an arts scale but on a professional level and to make them more employable.”
Jesse Dopson, performing arts student at Reading College, said: “I’m really excited to work with professionals and the National Theatre.
“I’m also excited to take part in a play that I’ve never done before and hasn’t been performed before which is a bit of a challenge.
“It’ll be good to be able to perform on an actual stage in a professional atmosphere and looking into how directors, the playwright and other professionals will give us directions and influence the show.”
Connections is an annual narrating festival where every year, the National Theatre commissions 10 new plays for young people to perform, uniting some of the UK’s best writers with the next generation of performers.
Find out more about performing and production arts courses at Activate Learning or contact us on 0800 612 6008.
