A season of short and punchy new plays written by high profile playwrights, produced and performed by young people.
3 July 19:00 – Scenes From Family Life by Mark Ravenhill
Jack and Lisa: two ordinary teenagers who want to have a baby. the only problem is Lisa keeps vanishing – literally – into thin air. Their friends Barry and Stacy, who is eight months pregnant, have the same problem. Soon, everyone in the whole world is dematerialising. Six months on and Jack and Stacy are the only boy and girl on the planet. For Jack it’s a dream, for Stacy a nightmare. And when the vanished start to return, Jack has to learn how complex adult relationships are.
Performed by Kildare Youth Theatre, Ireland
3 July 20:30 – A Vampire Story by Moira Buffini
Two young women arrive in a nameless British small town. Their names are not their own. They don’t declare their ages. Are they sisters as their assumed identities declare? Or are they mother and daughter? Are Eleanor and Claire vampires? Or are they troubled young women on the run?
Performed by Hertfordshire County Youth.
4 July 19:00 – He's Talking by Nicholas Wright
What would you do if you were caught and interrogated? Would you betray your friends? He’s Talking is a fact-based fiction about an anti-racist bombing group in apartheid South Africa. Luke, the leader, is seized and questioned. Every word he speaks will have a lifelong effect on his young friends and on himself. One year later, they all meet up. Or some of them do. Or only a few. It all depends on whether he talked… or not.
Performed by TV Workshop Nottingham.
4 July 20:30 – My Face by Nigel Williams
Susie decides to hold a party for all her My Face internet friends, but things go disastrously wrong as the virtual people become real. Mark is in love with Susie, but Susie is more concerned with the fact that Lou is in love with Sam. But Sam (although he doesn’t know it) is in love with Emma and – to make things even worse – Lou may be in love with Susie’s brother, Pete. Disaster!
Performed by St Peter's School, Bournemouth
5 July 19:00 – Arden City by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Rosie and Sally are two cousins who escape from home after difficulties with Sally’s father. Rosie dresses as a boy for safety and the girls find their way to an allotment. Orlando, who also has to flee because his brother Oliver wants him killed, finds his way to the allotment with Adam, his younger friend. A modern retelling of As You Like It: a story about love, identity and freedom.
Performed by Daydreamer Youth Theatre, Watford
5 July 20:30 – The Peach Child by Anna Furse and Little Angel Theatre
An adaptation of a well-loved Japanese fairytale. One day, as the Old Woman washes kimonos in the river, a large peach floats by. She takes it to her husband for dinner. As he cuts into the flesh, a baby boy is born. They call him Momotaro – ‘peach child’ – and he brings joy to their lives. At the age of 15 the boy tells his adoptive parents that he has to leave them. Over the other side of the mountain dwells the evil Ogre who must be overcome.
Performed by Kennet School, Newbury