Ravers: Part of the National Theatre Connections programme at York Theatre Royal Studio
THE National Theatre Connections programme in the York Theatre Royal Studio welcomes Westborough High School this evening at 6.15pm to present Jane Bodie’s The Company Of Trees.
Playwright, screenwriter and teacher Bodie’s drama about bullying, bravery, the power of nature, finding friendship, loneliness and Hanoi the giant tortoise follows new girl Willow as she moves into town but is not welcomed by the popular gang. Meanwhile, when a spectacular gymnastic accident leaves Taylor bed-bound, her once loyal gang begin to drop away.
Enter Willow, to share Taylor’s solitude, teach her about trees and poems that don’t rhyme, whereupon Taylor begins to heal.
Suitable for age 14 upwards, The Company Of Trees features strong language, themes of bullying, references to physical injury and the loss of a parent.
Vickie Donoghue’s Fresh Air will be staged by South Hunsley School tonight at 7.45pm and John Smeaton Academy on Thursday at 7.15pm.
Fresh Air: Featuring in the National Theatre Connections season at York Theatre Royal Studio
In this Essex stage, screen and radio writer’s play, students from a pupil referral group are made to go orienteering in what they discover is England’s most haunted woods. Stalked by eerie ghost children determined to keep them there forever, they must learn to confront the here and now to unlock the key to their futures.
Suitable for age 14 upwards, Fresh Air features moderate language, mild gore, mild dread, ghosts and supernatural elements throughout, references to mental health and one instance of a character being choked.
Writer, director, composer, choreographer, designer, producer and film, theatre, TV and radio performer Rikki Beadle-Blair’s Ravers will be performed by Wyke Sixth Form College tomorrow at 6.15pm and York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre (York St John University group) on Saturday at 12 noon and 7pm.
A rag-tag group of self-described “neeks” (nerds and geeks) gathers at midnight in a local park to hold a “‘dry rave” (No intoxicants). Will the group succeed in redefining “cool” or will the powers-that-be succeed in shutting down the neek revolution?
Again suitable for age 14 upwards, Ravers has depictions of underage drinking, moderate language, themes of anxiety and references to the loss of a parent.
Brain Play: One of the plays to be performed at York Theatre Royal Studio this week
Oxfordshire playwright Chloë Lawrence-Taylor and Olivier-nominated playwright, dramaturg and musician Paul Sirett’s Brain Play will be presented by Joseph Rowntree School on Thursday and 1812 Youth Theatre on Friday, both at 5.30pm.
When Mia’s dad suffers a traumatic brain injury and struggles to leave the house, she makes it her mission to find the cure for his symptoms. Delving deeper and deeper into the world of neuroscience, Mia is desperate to make him better, but first she must contend with her own brain.
Suitable for age 13 upwards, Brain Play contains strong language, discussion of brain injury and its associated effects, plus hearing loss, anxiety, PTSD, obsessive compulsive disorder and mental health, references to blood and agoraphobia, and, at one point a character says “take him out and shoot him” in jest.
Abbey Grange Academy takes to the Studio stage on Friday at 7.15pm to perform Mia And The Fish, Southall writer Satinder Chohan’s modern retelling of the ancient Indian myth Manu And The Fish.
Mia is a young refugee girl who, along with her sister, is washed up onto the British shores. Against the backdrop of a freak winter heatwave, as the climate emergency becomes critical, one day Mia happens upon a talking fish that she nurtures and names Samaki.
Mia And The Fish: Performance at 7.15pm on Friday
As well as becoming Mia’s friend and confidante, Samaki grows quickly into a giant fish, larger than any marine animal the world has ever known, and becomes the key to her and her friends’ survival in the face of the imminent extinction of humanity.
Suitable for age 13 upwards, Mia And The Fish contains discussions of the climate emergency, references to displacement and the refugee crisis and mild language.
National Theatre Connections’ week of York Theatre Royal Studio performances concludes with three weekend performances of Gary McNair’s No Regrets and Stage@Leeds Young Company’s Sunday performance of Alys Metcalf’s YOU 2.0.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre will be in action at 4.15pm and 5.30pm on Saturday, followed by Cockburn John Charles Academy on Sunday at 5pm, presenting No Regrets.
The Company Of Trees: Jane Bodie’s play for National Theatre Connections
Over the course of five years, Glasgow writer-performer McNair, three-time winner of the coveted Scotsman Fringe First Award, spoke to people at all stages and in all walks of life on the subject of regret.
This play marks the results of those conversations, presented in a collection of scenes, from the silly to the profound, that charts our relationship with the things we should have done but never did and the things we should not have done but did.
Suitable for age 14 upwards, No Regrets features strong language, descriptions of violence, mentions of alcohol and addiction, one scene of a mugging and stabbing and references to death.
In Sunday’s 12.30pm performance of YOU 2.0, strangers Martha and Isaac find themselves forced into playing YOU 2.0, a new therapy video game designed to help players access their better selves. As they tackle the levels in two-player mode, the pair form an unlikely friendship behind the anonymity of their gaming avatars, but their impact on each other’s lives goes much deeper than the game.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.