About

Tramshed is a proud partner venue for National Theatre Connections festival for the third year in a row. Every year, Connections commissions new plays for young people to perform. The programme brings together some of the UK’s most exciting writers with the theatre-makers of tomorrow. In 23/24, they worked with over 250 youth companies from every corner of the UK.

Connections is the National Theatre’s annual, nationwide youth theatre festival. The programme is 30 years old and has a history of championing the talent of young people from across the UK.

Programme:

Brain Play (24th April) - Book Now
Venue: Deptford Greenwich School
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 ages 13+

Mia and the Fish
24th April at Lewisham College - Book Now
25th April at Ebbsfleet Academy - Book Now
A 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 shores of the UK. Against the backdrop of a freak winter heatwave, as the climate emergency becomes critical, one day Mia happens upon and nurtures a talking fish, that she names, Samaki. As well as becoming Mia’s friend and confidante, Samaki quickly grows and becomes a giant fish, larger than any marine animal the world has ever known and the key to her and her friends’ survival in the face of the imminent extinction of humanity.
* Suitable for ages 13+

Fresh Air (25th April) - Book Now
Venue: Habs Hatcham Company
Students from a Pupil Referral group are made to go orienteering in what they discover is England’s most haunted woods. Stalked by eery 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 ages 14+

Ravers (26th April) - Book Now
Venue: Tramshed
A rag tag group of self-described ‘neeks’ (nerds and geeks) gather at midnight in a local park, to hold a ‘dry rave’. (no intoxicants). Will they succeed in redefining ‘cool’? Or will the powers that be succeed in shutting down the neek revolution?
* Suitable for ages 14+

No Regrets (26th April) - Book Now
Venue: Churchill Theatre Company
Over the course of five years, playwright Gary McNair 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. A collection of scenes from the silly to the profound, that charts our relationship with the things we should have done but didn’t and the things we shouldn’t have done, but did.
* Suitable for ages 14+

* This event is supported by Arts Council England.