Students set to perform at The National Theatre
We are thrilled to announce that students from Queen's Park High School have been chosen to perform on the Dorfman stage at the National Theatre in London. A group of aspiring Year 9 and 10 drama students will stage 'Age is Revolting' by Abi Zakarian on Thursday 27th June 2024, following their standout performance at The Lyceum Theatre in Crewe during the Easter holidays in April.
Queen's Park High School was one of only ten theatre groups chosen to represent the diverse talent from across the UK at the National Theatre Connections Festival from 25th-29th June.
The National Theatre Connections Festival is a yearly nationwide youth theatre festival, celebrating young talent between 13-19 across the UK and this year over 7,500 young individuals from 250 companies ranging from Plymouth to Pitlochry applied to participate. These young adult theatre groups selected one of ten specially written plays to perform in one of the NT 33 partner theatres in the Spring.
The play we chose to perform was ‘Age Is Revolting’ by Abi Zakarian and the whole process began when Mr Yeoman visited the National Theatre back in October on a weekend exploring the text with Abi and other directors of the play. Casting took place just after the February half term and once the committed company made up of 22 students was formed, intensive rehearsals on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays took place, culminating in two evening performances on the school's stage a mere 3 and a half weeks later!
Supported by our new Creative Learning Practitioner from Storyhouse, Jess Mann, and our associate teacher, Mr Woodfinden, the show was an outstanding success, performing to sell-out audiences on both nights.
The story itself is very powerful and looks at what it is to age and how the perspective of this changes depending on how old you are. It addresses some very powerful issues such as identity, ethnicity and Alzheimer’s Disease which affects so many.
The audience absolutely loved the performance at school, but no more than the performance played out on the Main Stage at the Crewe Lyceum.
Our students also had the opportunity to experience backstage roles for their production.
The festival allowed them to explore all levels of theatre making, developing new creative skills, and fostering an understanding of various roles in the creative industry.
Lucy in Year 10 said: "The opportunity to perform at the National Theatre is something I have only ever dreamt about.
I am so proud of myself and the whole cast and crew for making this production, which we really love, so successful!"
"Giving all young people the chance to express themselves creatively is the goal of any educator; it is with immense pride that Queen’s Park High School students have been chosen to showcase their work on stage at the National Theatre."
Mr Yeoman Assistant Headteacher & Director at QPHS
"It is one of my favourite times of year when the National Theatre is buzzing with excitement as these ten youth groups flood the building for Connections Festival."I can't wait to welcome them all to the National Theatre in June."
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre
Listen to cast members, Phoebe and Max talk about the performance as they're interviewed by Helen Jones on Radio Merseyside during Spring half term.
