National Theatre debut for young acting talent
YOUNG actors from Rhondda Cynon Taf have been chosen to perform at the National Theatre in London.
RCT Theatres and Welsh theatre company Motherlode’s production of Blackout by Davey Anderson, directed by Rachel Boulton and performed by a young ensemble of actors from the Park and Dare in Treorchy, was set to be staged at the prestigious National Theatre on Tuesday this week.
The production, along with 11 other new plays, was selected from 500 productions that took place across the UK in 2016 as part of National Theatre Connections.
The NT’s Connections festival celebrates the talent and passion of young theatre-makers and this year mark its 21st anniversary.
Some 450 youth theatre companies and 10,000 young people from every corner of the UK, working with 45 partner theatres, have performed 12 plays drawn from 150 commissioned by the NT since the festival began.
The unique collaboration between RCT Theatres and Motherlode was chosen ahead of hundreds of other entrants to perform on the stage at the National Theatre London, and director Rachel Boulton couldn’t be happier to be one of the few productions chosen.
She said: “Working with this talented group of young people has been an absolute pleasure and a great start to my post as resident director at the Park and Dare.
“At every rehearsal, I was blown away by the grounding, openness and overwhelming support they had for one another as they took Davey Anderson’s Glaswegian play and made it pertinent to them.
“Connections 500 is a fantastic initiative to engage young people with theatre all over the UK and we’re very proud to be the only Welsh company performing at the National this year.”
Blackout by Davey Anderson is inspired by the true story of a young offender who had committed a violent crime.
It’s a hard hitting play about getting bullied, fighting back, trying to make a name for yourself, turning vicious, doing something stupid, losing everything, then finding your way again.
More information about National Theatre Connections can be found at nationaltheatre. org.uk/connections