NT Connections

Oak Academy presents 'Fishville'

The story starts when a young man named Jared takes to the sea in swimming gear but never starts swimming… His death, which follows on from the unexpected sale of his parents’ house, throws the community into chaos. When the daughter of the man who bought Jared’s house arrives in Saltwell and finds a severed foot washed up at her feet, she and the daughter of the ‘second homers’ decide to investigate what drove Jared into the sea. They uncover a local myth about an underwater community – did Jared believe the myth? Then, ‘Jared’ starts posting messages, asking his friends to join him. With the new girl’s father spending more and more time in the sea, and the myth gaining traction, the young people must figure out what’s going on before anybody else is lost to a vengeful ocean…

The Arnewood School presents 'Wildfire Road'

A story about a generation whose future has been hijacked. The whole play takes place on a flight from London to Tokyo. There’s a hijacker on board and the flight is re-directed to Siberia and in the process saving the lives of all 416 people on board, as the rest of the world is engulfed in a massive wildfire. It’s metaphorical, prophetic and a tale for the most important question of our times – are we going to wake up and address the climate emergency before it’s too late?

The Island Free School presents 'Cloud Busting'

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. While the cool girls in the class thought Davey was ‘well cute in a sad dog sort of way’, the tough boys – Morgan and his crew – just saw Davey as different. Davey liked to dance. Davey liked to look at the clouds and see the shapes they made. Davey liked looking at the world in a different way to everybody else. But no matter how much Sam liked being with Davey, he always denied their friendship. Then one day, the bullying goes a step too far… but will Sam step in to help his friend? It’s not the ordinary day Sam thought it was going to be.

The Bourne Academy presents 'The Animals'

Student teacher Sam arrives at Redhill Youth Custody Secure Unit hoping to enrich the troubled residents’ lives there by introducing them to the subject of Philosophy. The wary class resist engaging in this alien, ancient art of thinking at first, but start to thaw when they 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 and is secretly terrified at this prospect. A bruising, moving, surprising drama about education within the Youth Custody System and the power of creative thought.

Playmakers Youth Theatre presents 'Cloud Busting'

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. While the cool girls in the class thought Davey was ‘well cute in a sad dog sort of way’, the tough boys – Morgan and his crew – just saw Davey as different. Davey liked to dance. Davey liked to look at the clouds and see the shapes they made. Davey liked looking at the world in a different way to everybody else. But no matter how much Sam liked being with Davey, he always denied their friendship. Then one day, the bullying goes a step too far… but will Sam step in to help his friend? It’s not the ordinary day Sam thought it was going to be.

Light UP presents 'Ride or Die'

The Kids spend the whole year arguing about whether Alton Towers is actually better than Thorpe Park. At the moment Alton Towers has got 2 votes and Thorpe Park has got 2 votes. The deciding vote goes to the youngest, Angel who hasn’t actually been to any of them yet, cause he’s in year 7 and you don’t get to go on The Theme Park Extravaganza until the end of Year 7. But that’s literally in like 2 weeks, so it’ll be settled once and for all, very very soon! So what could possibly go wrong?….Angel getting suspended from school, Nan going off on a surprise holiday, Dad coming round to look after them (and he’s useless) and lasts one night, and The Kids borrowing Nan’s car and colliding with a Waitrose delivery van. The whole affair is literally a car crash.