Derby Theatre will showcase youth talent from across the East Midlands when it hosts National Theatre Connections, a festival for young people aged from 11 to 25.
Each year, the National Theatre commissions high-profile and up-and-coming writers to create new plays for performance by young companies all over the country. Derby Theatre will welcome 12 young companies.
Groups from the region performing at the festival include Bilborough College, New College Nottingham, Chapter 4, Redhill Academy, Flying High, Shadow Syndicate, Creative Learning Stoke, Walton Acting Company, William Allitt School, Tiptoe and CAST Ensemble.
The plays being performed include FOMO by Suhayla El-Bushra, Extremism by Anders Lustgarten, Musical Differences by Robin French, Patrick Marber’s The School Film, The Monstrum by Kellie Smith, #YOLO by Matthew Bulgo and Zero for the Young Dudes! by Alistair McDowall.
The festival runs from Monday 24 until Saturday 29 April. On the final day, there will be workshops led by professionals including singing with Hugh Maynard, who played the title role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Derby Theatre in 2016, meet actor Sean McKenzie and a The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time physical workshop with Frantic Assembly.
Further information is available at the Derby Theatre web site.