National Theatre Connections Festival Begins

Last night, young people reopened the Dorfman stage for this year's Connections Festival. Ten groups youth groups from across the UK are performing new plays this week on the Dorfman Stage, recently closed for eight months due to capital works. Two performances take place each night at 7pm and 8:30pm, running until Saturday 28 June. 

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Connections is The National Theatre's landmark nationwide youth theatre festival championing the power of youth theatre and bringing together some of the UK's most exciting contemporary writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. Over 5,000 young people took part in Connections this year, with more than 270 youth theatre groups and schools performing at home venues and on one of 33 professional stages from Plymouth to Pitlochry to celebrate the anniversary. The groups selected to perform at this year's festival at The National Theatre represent the talent of young people across all four nations of the UK, hailing from Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Kent, Lanarkshire, Leeds, London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Wolverhampton.

Marking the milestone 30th anniversary of the programme, these young people join over 125,000 people nationwide that have taken part in Connections, gaining firsthand experience in all aspects of staging and performing new plays over the programme's 30 year history. The programme has helped shape the early paths of many career routes from teachers to doctors, as well as standout performers, like Rose Ayling-Ellis, Keira Knightley, David Oyelowo, and Callum Scott Howells all having taken part in Connections. Previous playwrights include trailblazing voices such as Alice Birch, Chris Bush, James Graham and Lenny Henry. Connections has also inspired international versions, with festivals lighting up stages in seven countries across three continents from Brazil to India.

Tickets to this year's Connections Festival are available on the National Theatre Website. Applications to take place Connections 2026 are open until 7 July via The National Theatre Website.

Photo Credit: Foteini Christofilopoulou