Students Shine at the National Theatre Connections Festival

We were incredibly proud to take part in this year’s National Theatre Connections Festival, a nationwide programme celebrating youth theatre and giving young performers the opportunity to work with professionally commissioned writers and perform on professional stages. The festival champions creativity, collaboration and the belief that young voices matter. 

We had an amazing time performing at our partner theatre, The Gulbenkian, where we presented _Sycamore Gap_ by Al Smith. Inspired by the real-life event, the play tells a fictional story centred on a group of school children accused of cutting down the famous tree. The play explores how public opinion can spiral when people hide behind keyboards, while also highlighting how young people can often act with more integrity and compassion than adults. Performed as a true ensemble piece, all 20 actors remained on stage for the entire performance, demonstrating outstanding professionalism, commitment and teamwork. There were standout performances across the cast – everyone played their part superbly.

The day began with a fantastic projection workshop, introducing students to creative ways of integrating projection into theatre-making. This proved incredibly inspiring and has already sparked ideas for incorporating projection into future practical exam work. We were also thrilled to see our sixth form technical students mentoring Year 9 aspiring technicians, with the Year 9s operating lighting and sound on professional desks for the performance itself.

With lighting design by James R‑H, set and props design by Lillian D and Florrie C, costumes design by Ava M (all Year 12) and sound design and original music composed by Asya A (Year 13), it was another hugely successful and enjoyable year.

Our heartfelt thanks go to the team at National Theatre Connections and the wonderful staff at The Gulbenkian. Until next year!