Several Midlands theatres are taking part in the annual National Theatre Connections 500 festival, with Derby Theatre hosting nine days of performances and workshops.
Each year the National asks high-profile and up-and-coming writers to create new plays for young people aged 11 to 25. Eighteen young companies will be performing at Derby Theatre.
The plays being performed this year are: Eclipse by Simon Armitage, Jackie Kay’s Take Away, The Musicians by Patrick Marber, It Snows by Bryony Lavery, Davey Anderson’s Blackout, Bassett by James Graham, Carl Grose’s Gargantua, I’m Spilling My Heart Out Here by Stacey Gregg and What Are They Like? by Lucinda Coxon.
Groups performing at Derby Theatre include Bilborough Drama, West Park School Spondon, New College Nottingham, Chapter 4, Stagecoach Ashby and Burton, Junkshop Theatre Company Nottingham, ACTS, Flying High, Buxton Opera House Young Company, Lady Manners School Bakewell, Ockbrook School, New Vic Youth Theatre Newcastle-under-Lyme, Swanwick Hall School Derbyshire, Stafford Gatehouse and Central Youth Theatre Wolverhampton.
The festival runs from Thursday 28 April until Saturday 7 May.
Northampton’s Royal and Derngate will present some of the plays from Thursday until Sunday while Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry will welcome ten groups to perform at its festival weekend on Saturday and Sunday.