Six young writers aged between 13 and 15 from Furrowfield School in Gateshead and Red House Academy in Sunderland will have their plays performed in the Main Theatre at Live Theatre from 3 to 5 December.
The plays were developed in partnership with Live Theatre as part of Write Stuff, a creative writing programme that provides young voices with a platform to share issues that affect their lives.
The plays written by the Furrowfield students are Doctor Death by Lee Harrison, Soulless and Goalless by Leonnie Lartey and Scary House by Reece Weightman and those from the Red House students are Could It Be A Tuna? by Nathan Beckett, Memories Of The Sea by Amy Connor and Never Never Land by Lauren Dickson.
Drama workers from Live visited the schools over a number of weeks to deliver workshops covering everything from imagination and improvisation to plot development and how to structure a play. Three pupils from each school were given the opportunity to attend a residency weekend at the theatre, where they were supported by professional dramaturgs to produce their short plays.
Following a sold-out script-in-hand performance in the Studio Theatre earlier this year, these six selected plays have been further developed and rehearsed with professional actors and directors for full productions in the Main Theatre.
Among the professional actors performing the plays are Chris Connell (Wet House), Natalie Jamieson (Michaela's Mistake) and Donald McBride (Chalet Lines).