NT Connections National Festival 2026
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Thu 25 Jun 20267:00PMMacbeth Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth - Cockburn John Charles AcademyQuays Theatre
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Thu 25 Jun 20268:30PMSycamore Gap - The Egg Young CompanyQuays Theatre
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Fri 26 Jun 20267:00PMWildfire Road - Pendleton School of TheatreQuays Theatre
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Fri 26 Jun 20268:30PMCloud Busting - Cardiff High SchoolQuays Theatre
This year’s Connections Festival will take place at the Lowry in Salford from 25–28 June, the first time the festival has been held outside London. Eight youth groups from across the UK will perform their own interpretations of new plays specially commissioned for young performers.
Connections is the National Theatre’s annual nationwide youth theatre festival that champions the talent of young people across the UK celebrating the power of youth theatre. For the past three months, over 5,000 young people from more than 250 companies and schools have performed at home venues and on one of 33 professional stages across the country.
The Connections Festival at the Lowry in Salford is the culmination of the nationwide programme with representation of the voices and creativity of young people from across the UK. By offering opportunities to work with professional directors and to perform on a professional stage, Connections offers young people a feeling of belonging, the chance to explore and develop their own voices as well as develop key skills for their future careers.
Tickets for Connections are £5 per performance or £8 for two performances in an evening.
Festival Programme
Thursday 25th June
7pm: Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth Macbeth - Cockburn John Charles Academy (Leeds)
By Kirsty Housley
When an alarm is deliberately set off during their GCSE Drama exam, a group of students find themselves in detention. As they struggle to navigate the seemingly endless tasks they’ve been set as punishment, questions are raised. Who set off the alarm and why? Will it cost them their GCSE? And why is Shakespeare still so popular?
They begin to wonder whether the classics really are that classic, or whether we might need to tell a different story altogether.
8:30pm: Sycamore Gap - The Egg Young Company (Bath)
By Al Smith
On the day after the felling of the Robin Hood Tree, the local police are in school, conducting an investigation. The 12 members of the school’s eco-club are held in a classroom, being taken out and interviewed one by one, until the culprit cracks and confesses.
While they wait for their turn, the pupils interrogate each other. Who could have done something so monstrous? What impact will it have on their club and their community, now that the tree is gone? And will it be possible for any of them to move on?
Friday 26th June
7pm: Wildfire Road - Pendleton School of Theatre (Salford)
By Eve Leigh
A story about a generation whose future has been hijacked. A flight from London to Tokyo gets highjacked while the rest of the world is engulfed in a massive wildfire. Does the hijacker mean to harm them? Or are they saving all 416 people on board?
8:30pm - Cloud Busting - Cardiff High School (Cardiff)
By Helen Blakeman (based on the novel by Malorie Blackman)
When Sam wakes up, he fully believes that today will just be another ordinary day, but that’s before Mr Mackie tells Class 8M to write a poem about someone they care about.
Unexpectedly, Sam volunteers to write about Davey. Davey was Sam’s friend – not that Sam wanted anyone to know that. When Davey starts being bullied, will Sam step up be his friend?
Saturday 27th June
7pm: Fishville - Westacre Theatre Company (King's Lynn)
By Afsaneh Gray
In the coastal town of Saltwell, a young man named Jared takes to the sea in swimming gear but never starts swimming.
His death throws the community into chaos. When the daughter of the man new to the area finds a severed foot washed up at her feet, she uncovers a local myth about an underwater community.
The young people must figure out what’s going on before anybody else is lost to a vengeful ocean.
8:30pm - Britney's Lock - Guild of Players Youth Theatre (Dumfries)
By Alexandra Wood
When Ruby acquires a lock of Britney Spears’ hair as a relic to help her stay calm during her GCSE mocks, her friends dismiss it, but one by one they start to feel its power and want a piece of it.
Sunday 28th June
7pm: The Animals - Wyke College (Hull)
By Sean Buckley
Student teacher Sam arrives at Redhill Youth Custody Secure Unit hoping to enrich the residents’ lives by introducing them to the subject of philosophy. The class resist engaging in this alien, ancient art of thinking at first, but slowly find themselves being challenged and empowered in ways they haven’t previously experienced.
Yet the hope Sam’s teaching offers them is fragile, particularly for hard-fronting Gee, who’s on the verge of being released from the unit…
8:30pm: Ride or Die - Jigsaw Arts Balham (London)
By Florence Espeut-Nickless
The Kids argue about whether Alton Towers is actually better than Thorpe Park. Alton Towers has got two votes and Thorpe Park has got two votes. The deciding vote goes to the youngest, Angel, who hasn’t actually been to any of them yet, cause you don’t get to go on The Theme Park Extravaganza until the end of Year 7. But that’s literally in like two weeks, so it’ll be settled once and for all, very very soon.
What could possibly go wrong?
